The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) was set up by an act of Parliament during 1972. The erstwhile Marine Products Export Promotion Council established by the Government of India in September, 1961 was converged into MPEDA on 24th August, 1972. The Marine Products Export Development Authority under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is a statutory body entrusted with the primary task of promotion of export of marine products.

The Authority with its headquarters at Kochi, Kerala is headed by Chairman. MPEDA has been serving the Marine Products Export sector for the past 50 years. In order to reach out to the exporters in different parts of the Country, MPEDA has set up 18 – Regional / Sub Regional Divisions / Desk offices at Veraval, Porbandar, Valsad, Mumbai, Mangalore, Nagapatinam, Kochi, Tuticorin, Chennai, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Bhimavaram, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Guwahati, Kawarathi & Port Blair.

MPEDA has Trade Promotion offices at New Delhi, Tokyo and New York. MPEDA has set up five full-fledged Quality Control Laboratories, at Kochi (Kerala), Nellore & Bhimavaram (Andhra Pradesh), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) and Porbandar (Gujarat). In addition, fifteen ELISA Screening Laboratories set up by MPEDA in the maritime states.

The MPEDA Act, 1972, has assigned the following functions to the Authority.

(1) It shall be the duty of the Authority to promote, by such measures as it thinks fit, the development under the control of the Central Government of the marine products industry with special reference to exports.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1), the measures referred to therein may provide for:-
a) developing and regulating off-shore and deep-sea fishing and undertaking measures for the conservation and management of off-shore and deep-sea fisheries;
b) registering fishing vessels, processing plants or storage premises for marine products and conveyances used for the transport of marine products;
c) fixing of standards and specifications for marine products for purposes of export;
d) rendering of financial or other assistance to owners of fishing vessels engaged in off-shore and deep-sea fishing and owners of processing plants or storage premises for marine products and conveyances used for the transport of marine products, and acting as an agency for such relief and subsidy schemes as may be entrusted to the Authority;
e) carrying out inspection of marine products in any fishing vessel, processing plant, storage premises, conveyance or other places where such products are kept or handled, for the purpose of ensuring the quality of such products;
f) regulating the export of marine products;
g) improving the marketing of marine products outside India;
h) registering of exporters of marine products on payment of such fees as may be prescribed;
i) collecting statistics from persons engaged in the catching of fish or other marine products, owners of processing plants or storage premises for marine products, or conveyances used for the transport of marine products, exporters of such products and such other persons as may be prescribed on any matter relating to the marine products industry and the publishing of statistics so collected, or portions thereof or extracts there from;
j) training in various aspects of the marine products industry; and
k) such other matters as may be prescribed.

(3) The Authority shall perform its functions under this section in accordance with
and subject to such rules as may be made by the Central Government.

 

During the financial year 2022-23, India exported 17,35,286 MT of Seafood worth USD 8.09 Billion and Rs. 63,969.14 Crore which is all-time high export by volume, value in USD and Rupee. The USA and China are the major importers of Indian seafood. Frozen Shrimp continued to be the major export item. Export summary are given in the Table.1

 

The details of MPEDA Act, Rules & Regulations 1972, may be seen on the MPEDA’s website on the link https://mpeda.gov.in/?page_id=472

MPEDA House, P.B.No.4272, Panampilly Avenue, Panampilly Nagar P.O, Kochi –​
682 036, KERALA.
ho@mpeda.gov.in
(+91) 0484-2311901, 2311854, 2311803, 2313415
www.mpeda.gov.in
Fax: 91 484 2313361