The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament in 1972, functioning under India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It serves as the nodal agency for promoting the marine products industry with a special focus on exports, taking over from the erstwhile Marine Products Export Promotion Council. MPEDA’s mandate covers registration of exporters and processing facilities, quality control and standard-setting, market promotion overseas, and aquaculture development through hatchery support and training. It operates field offices across all maritime states, supported by quality control laboratories and research centres.
History of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA):
The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) was established by the Government of India in 1972 under the Marine Products Export Development Authority Act, 1972. It functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is responsible for promoting the export of marine products from India. Its establishment marked an important step towards organising and developing the marine export sector. Initially, India’s seafood exports faced challenges relating to processing facilities, preservation, quality control, and access to international markets. MPEDA was created to address these issues by improving infrastructure, encouraging modern processing methods, and helping exporters meet international quality requirements. It also aimed to increase foreign exchange earnings through seafood exports.
Over the years, MPEDA has expanded its activities to support fisheries, aquaculture, seafood processing, quality improvement, and international marketing. It has encouraged the development of shrimp farming, modern seafood processing plants, cold storage facilities, and improved handling practices. The authority also assists exporters through market promotion, technical guidance, training, and participation in international trade exhibitions. It works with industry stakeholders to improve compliance with importing countries’ standards and strengthen India’s reputation as a reliable seafood supplier. Today, MPEDA plays an important role in promoting exports of frozen shrimp, fish, and other marine products. Its activities contribute to employment generation, coastal economic development, and the growth of India’s marine products export industry.
MPEDA’s Role in Infrastructure Development for Seafood Processing and Cold Chain:
1. Development of Seafood Processing Facilities
The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) supports the development and modernisation of seafood processing facilities in India. It encourages the adoption of modern machinery, hygienic processing methods, and efficient production techniques. These facilities help maintain seafood quality, improve productivity, and meet international food safety standards. MPEDA also provides technical guidance and promotes compliance with relevant export requirements. Modern processing units enable exporters to produce value-added products, reduce wastage, and improve competitiveness in international markets. Such infrastructure contributes to higher export earnings and strengthens India’s position in the global seafood industry.
2. Development of Cold Chain Infrastructure
MPEDA promotes the development of cold chain infrastructure to preserve the freshness and quality of seafood from harvesting to export. Cold chain facilities include ice plants, refrigerated storage, cold rooms, and temperature-controlled transportation. Maintaining the appropriate temperature helps prevent spoilage, microbial growth, and quality deterioration. MPEDA encourages better handling and preservation practices among seafood producers, processors, and exporters. Efficient cold chain systems also reduce post-harvest losses and help meet the requirements of international buyers. These facilities are particularly important for exporting perishable products such as fish, shrimp, and other marine resources.
3. Establishment of Pre-Processing Centres
MPEDA encourages improved pre-processing facilities where seafood is cleaned, sorted, graded, and prepared before reaching processing plants. These centres help maintain hygiene and reduce contamination during the initial stages of handling. Proper pre-processing improves product consistency and enables seafood processing units to operate more efficiently. Facilities may include washing areas, sorting equipment, ice storage, and hygienic handling systems. By promoting better practices and infrastructure, MPEDA helps minimise wastage and preserve the quality of raw seafood. Efficient pre-processing supports timely production and helps exporters meet the quality expectations of international markets.
4. Quality Control and Testing Laboratories
MPEDA supports quality improvement by promoting awareness of testing, inspection, hygiene, and food safety requirements in seafood exports. Modern laboratories and testing facilities help identify contamination, residues, and other quality-related problems. Reliable testing is essential for ensuring compliance with importing-country regulations and reducing the risk of shipment rejection. MPEDA also provides technical guidance and encourages seafood businesses to follow appropriate quality management systems. Better laboratory infrastructure strengthens consumer confidence, improves product reliability, and protects India’s export reputation. These efforts support safer seafood processing and help exporters maintain access to demanding international markets.
5. Modernisation of Seafood Export Units
MPEDA encourages seafood export units to adopt modern equipment and improved processing technologies. Modernisation may include automated grading, efficient freezing systems, hygienic packaging machinery, and improved waste-management facilities. These technologies help increase production capacity, maintain consistent quality, and reduce processing losses. MPEDA provides technical guidance and, where applicable, facilitates assistance under relevant government programmes. Improved facilities help exporters produce value-added seafood products that meet international market expectations. Modernisation also supports better resource utilisation, operational efficiency, and competitiveness, enabling Indian seafood businesses to respond more effectively to changing global demand.
6. Promotion of Refrigerated Transportation
MPEDA promotes awareness of refrigerated transportation and proper temperature management in seafood logistics. Refrigerated trucks and insulated containers help maintain suitable temperatures while seafood moves from landing centres to processing plants, storage facilities, ports, and export destinations. Effective transportation reduces spoilage, preserves texture and freshness, and protects product quality. MPEDA encourages stakeholders to adopt appropriate handling procedures and strengthen coordination throughout the supply chain. Reliable refrigerated transportation is especially important for frozen and chilled seafood exports, where delays or temperature fluctuations can cause financial losses and affect compliance with international quality requirements.
7. Support for Fishing Harbours and Landing Centres
MPEDA contributes to the development of an export-oriented seafood sector by promoting improved handling, hygiene, and infrastructure practices at fishing harbours and landing centres. Clean landing areas, adequate ice availability, suitable storage, and proper waste disposal help preserve seafood quality immediately after harvesting. These improvements reduce contamination and deterioration before the catch reaches processing units. MPEDA may coordinate with relevant government agencies and industry stakeholders to encourage better facilities and handling practices. Improved landing infrastructure benefits fishers, processors, and exporters by supporting a more reliable supply of quality raw materials for domestic and international markets.
8. Promotion of Aquaculture Infrastructure
MPEDA supports the development of aquaculture as an important source of seafood exports, particularly farmed shrimp. It promotes better farming practices, technical knowledge, traceability, and compliance with relevant quality and environmental requirements. Appropriate aquaculture infrastructure includes ponds, water-management systems, disease-monitoring facilities, and hygienic harvesting arrangements. Better infrastructure helps improve production efficiency, product quality, and supply reliability. MPEDA also encourages responsible farming practices to support the long-term sustainability of seafood production. A well-developed aquaculture sector provides processing units with a more dependable supply of raw materials and strengthens India’s seafood export capacity.
Functions of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA):
1. Registration and Regulation of Export Infrastructure
MPEDA is mandated to register fishing vessels, processing plants, storage premises, and conveyances used for transporting marine products. This registration function extends to exporters themselves, who must register with the Authority upon payment of prescribed fees. By maintaining a registry of facilities and personnel, MPEDA ensures that only compliant entities participate in the export supply chain. This function is foundational for traceability, allowing the Authority to track products from capture or harvest through processing and final shipment, thereby underpinning the credibility of Indian seafood in stringent international markets.
2. Fixing Standards and Ensuring Quality through Inspection
The Authority is responsible for fixing standards and specifications for marine products destined for export and for carrying out inspections at fishing vessels, processing plants, and storage premises. MPEDA operates a network of quality control laboratories and administers the National Residue Control Plan to screen for banned substances like antibiotics. This function is critical for market access, as major importers such as the EU and USA require rigorous verification. Through inspection and standard-setting, MPEDA aims to prevent rejections and maintain the reputation of Indian seafood globally.
3. Export Regulation and Market Promotion
MPEDA is empowered to regulate the export of marine products and to take measures for improving marketing outside India. This involves organizing participation in international trade fairs, facilitating buyer-seller meets, and conducting trade delegations to explore new markets. The Authority also disseminates trade information and addresses market access issues such as sanitary and phytosanitary barriers. By actively promoting Indian seafood abroad, MPEDA seeks to diversify the export basket and reduce dependence on a few traditional markets, thereby stabilizing export earnings.
4. Financial and Technical Assistance for Industry Upgradation
The Act enables MPEDA to render financial or other assistance to owners of fishing vessels, processing plants, and storage facilities. This function is operationalized through subsidy schemes for modernizing processing infrastructure, upgrading technology for value addition, and installing effluent treatment systems. By acting as an agency for government relief and subsidy schemes, MPEDA helps the industry meet international quality norms and improve productivity. This financial support is particularly vital for small and medium enterprises seeking to upgrade their facilities to compete in high-value markets.
5. Promotion and Development of Aquaculture
A significant function is the promotion of aquaculture to augment export production. MPEDA supports hatchery development, new farm establishment, species diversification, and technology upgradation through its research wing, the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA). It also enrolls aquaculture farms and hatcheries to establish complete traceability from the pond to the plate. Given that farmed shrimp constitutes the dominant share of India’s seafood exports, this function is central to ensuring sustainable supply growth and meeting the specific traceability requirements of major importing nations.
6. Training and Human Resource Development
MPEDA is tasked with training in various aspects of the marine products industry. It imparts training to fishermen, fish processing workers, aquaculture farmers, and other stakeholders on quality management, HACCP principles, and sustainable fishing practices. This function is delivered through networks like NETFISH and NaCSA. By building human capacity, MPEDA addresses a critical gap in the supply chain: awareness and skill deficits at the producer level. Trained stakeholders are better equipped to adopt hygienic practices and comply with international standards, directly reducing the risk of quality failures.
7. Collection and Dissemination of Statistics
The Authority is required to collect statistics from persons engaged in catching, processing, storing, transporting, and exporting marine products, and to publish the collected data. This statistical function provides the evidence base for policy formulation, industry planning, and market analysis. By systematically gathering data on production, exports, and market trends, MPEDA enables the government and exporters to make informed decisions. Reliable statistics are also essential for demonstrating compliance with international trade obligations and for negotiating market access terms with trading partners.
8. Development and Regulation of Deep-Sea Fishing
MPEDA is mandated to develop and regulate off-shore and deep-sea fishing and to undertake measures for the conservation and management of deep-sea fisheries. This function involves promoting deep-sea fishing projects through test fishing, joint ventures, and equipment upgradation to increase fishing efficiency. By supporting the exploitation of deep-sea resources, MPEDA aims to diversify the raw material base for the processing sector, which currently relies heavily on coastal and aquaculture sources. Conservation measures ensure that this development remains sustainable and does not deplete marine resources.
Challenges Faced by MPEDA in Promoting Seafood Exports:
1. Tariff Barriers in the US Market
The United States is India’s largest seafood export destination, but Indian shrimp faces a heavy tariff burden. In 2025, the US imposed a 25% reciprocal tariff plus a 25% punitive tariff, which combined with countervailing and anti-dumping duties pushed the total tax rate as high as 58% at one point. This directly eroded the price advantage of Indian shrimp in the US market, causing some farmers to delay harvests to avoid losses, while competitors such as Ecuador and Indonesia gained ground. Although tariffs were later reduced, the uncertainty of policy shifts continues to challenge MPEDA’s market stabilization efforts.
2. Non-Tariff Barriers and Quality Compliance Pressure
Major importing countries continue to tighten non-tariff measures. The EU and Japan have increased sampling frequencies for Indian shrimp, while Australia, Thailand, and Indonesia have implemented stricter biosecurity regulations. Antibiotic residue remains the primary cause of rejection. In 2025-26, the EU rejected 7 batches of Indian shrimp and the US rejected 12 batches due to banned antibiotics. MPEDA must promote pre-harvest testing and traceability systems, but small-scale farmers have limited capacity to comply, and enforcement costs remain high.
3. Over-Reliance on a Single Species and Product Form
India’s farmed shrimp output is 92% dependent on a single species, Litopenaeus vannamei (Pacific white shrimp), creating significant risk of disease outbreaks that could devastate production. Additionally, value-added products account for only about 6% of export volume, far below Thailand’s 66%, China’s 38%, and Vietnam’s 26%. MPEDA faces the challenge of guiding the industry from raw frozen exports toward deep processing and branding, but this requires capital, technology, and skilled labor—all of which are underdeveloped in the sector.
4. Limited Budget and Promotional Capacity Constraints
A parliamentary committee noted that insufficient budget allocations have constrained MPEDA’s ability to carry out export promotion activities. The Committee emphasized that funding shortfalls in key areas would impede the effective implementation of internal trade and export promotion programs and recommended that the department review the reasons for underutilization of funds and establish accountability mechanisms. Without adequate financial resources, MPEDA struggles to sustain market diversification, trade fairs, buyer-seller meets, and other promotional initiatives.
5. Market Diversification and Competitive Pressure
While MPEDA is pushing diversification into the EU, China, and Southeast Asia, competition is intensifying. Ecuador’s exports to the US surged 24% in 2025, filling the gap left by India. In the EU market, Vietnam enjoys advantages through the EVFTA, and India’s FTA with the EU—though finalized—still requires ratification to take effect. MPEDA must help exporters establish long-term contracts and supply chains in new markets before tariff preferences materialize, while addressing logistics costs and shipping delays that erode competitiveness.
6. Traceability and Farm-Level Compliance Gaps
Importing countries increasingly require complete traceability from farm to plate. The US Seafood Import Monitoring Program and the EU’s IUU regulations demand validated catch and harvest data. India has introduced the SHAPHARI certification and the Aqua Trace app, but enrollment coverage remains incomplete, and many smallholders lack awareness or technical capacity. MPEDA, together with the Coastal Aquaculture Authority and the Export Inspection Council, must coordinate traceability implementation across fragmented supply chains, a task complicated by limited field staff and infrastructure.
