Following institutions help in promoting exports or facilitating foreign trade.
1. Department of Commerce: It is under Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. It is the apex institution responsible for the country’s external trade and all matters connected with it. It formulates policies for foreign trade. It also formulates export and import policy of the country.
2. Export Promotion Council (EPC): These are non-profit organizations which are registered with either Companies Act or Societies Registration Act. They aim at promoting and developing the country’s exports of particular products falling under their jurisdiction.
3. Commodity Boards: Commodity boards are the boards established by Indian Government for development of production of traditional commodities and their products. There are 7 boards at present.
4. Export Inspection Council (EIC): It was established under Export Quality Control and Inspection Act, 1963 which aims at sound development of export trade using quality control and pre-shipment inspection.
5. Indian Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO): It was set up on 1 January, 1992 under the Companies Act, 1956 by the Ministry of Commerce. It is a service organization and maintains regular and close interaction with trade, industry and Government. It has five regional offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Kanpur and Chennai and four international offices in USA, Germany, Japan and UAE.
6. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT): It was set up in 1963 as an autonomous body registered under the Societies Registration Act with the prime objective of professionalising the country’s foreign trade management.
7. Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP): It was set up in 1966. It is a training cum research institute pertaining to packaging and testing. It caters to packaging needs with regard to both the domestic and export market. Its headquarters are in Mumbai and it has three regional offices in Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai.
8. State Trading Organizations: It was established in May, 1956. Its main aim is to stimulate trade primarily export trade among different trading partners of the world. Under it more organizations were set up later like Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC) and Handloom and Handicrafts Export Corporation (HHEC).
