The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was formed under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act by the Government of India under the motion passed by the Parliament in December, 1985. APEDA successfully substituted for the earlier similar establishment named as the Processed Food Export Promotion Council (PFEPC).

The Scheduled Products whose responsibility APEDA takes for development and export promotion measures are Guar Gum Powders and beans, Floriculture products, Herbal Plants, Pickles, Groundnuts, Alcoholic Beverages, Cocoa products, Dairy products, Meat Products, Fruits, Medicinal Plants, Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Papads, Walnuts, Biscuits and Bakery Products, Poultry Products, Vegetable Products, Chutneys, Chocolates, Jaggery Products, Peanuts and Sugar Products

APEDA has been established to take care of the following responsibilities as mentioned in the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act, 1985. These activities assist in their exports in a major way.

• Research and development with the packaging of the products is concentrated to help maintain their quality while they are transported across the borders through seaways, roadways or airways.
• Efforts to improve marketing activities to promote the products across the globe.
• Draft policies that promote the production of products which have export demands.
• Research and development measures for industries of the scheduled products with financial support and subsidy schemes along with other support such as surveys and feasibility studies.
• Providing registration cum membership certificates [RCMC] to exporters to be able to avail export promotion schemes as per the export policy of the country.
• Establishment of export standards for the scheduled products to be exported.
• Training activities for all the aspects associated with the industries of the scheduled products to be exported.
• Maintaining statistical information to be obtained from the industries producing the scheduled products being exported. This information covers the production, marketing, packaging, processing and exports. It is presented for public view in the form of publications on a timely basis.
• Other such activities are covered under the APEDA.

APEDA has its offices all over India. Its head office is located in New Delhi. Its regional offices are in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Guwahati. APEDA has also introduced virtual offices to be able to provide basic facilities like registrations, financial assistance and schemes to the entrepreneurs of India. These virtual offices are located in Srinagar (J&K), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Imphal (Manipur), Raipur (Chattisgarh), Panaji (Goa), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bhubaneshwar (Orissa), Chandigarh, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Kohima (Nagaland), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Agartala (tripura) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

Schemes provided by APEDA for the promotion of exports for its scheduled products are:

• Transport assistance scheme: Under this scheme the exporter of processed food products, poultry products and horticulture can avail assistance for shipments made through seaways, airways or roadways. The copy of bills paid to the shipping company, airfreight company or freight forwarder need to be provided to avail this assistance.
• Quality Development scheme:This scheme provides assistance for installation of equipment to test the quality. Quality assurance measures like ISO certification, BRC and HAPPC, GAP, etc. Establishment of labs for testing the quality of products being exported and maintain their quality by implementing standardization techniques along with quality assurance manuals and documents.
• Market Development Scheme: Financial assistance to participate in fairs and trade exhibitions happening in foreign markets is provided under this scheme. It helps the exporters increase the presence of the products in new international markets and ultimately promote the exports.
• Infrastructure Development Scheme: Certain products under the scheduled products are given financial assistance for the creation of storage facilities. This is required in order to maintain the quality of the product and avoid wastage. Common infrastructure projects are also undertaken under this scheme to help the products store the produce together.