AGMARK

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AG MARK AGMARK is a certification mark employed
on agricultural products in India, assuring
that they conform to a set of standards
approved by the Directorate of Marketing
and Inspection, an agency of the
Government of India. The term Agmark was
coined by joining the words ‘Ag‘ to mean
agriculture and ‘mark‘ for a certification
mark. This term was introduced originally
in the bill presented in the parliament of
India for the Agricultural Produce (Grading
and Marking) Act.
Directorate of Marketing & Inspection
(DMI) in the Department of
Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers
Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture,
Cooperation & Farmers Welfare is
implementing the provisions of
Agricultural Produce (Grading &
Marking) Act, 1937.
The Act empowers the Central Government to make Rules for
 
(a) fixing grade designation to indicate quality of any scheduled article.
(b) Defining the quality indicated by every grade designation and
(c) specifying grade designation marks to represent particular grade
designations.
 
Standards notified as per the provisions of the Act are popularly called
AGMARK Standards. These standards differentiate between quality and
2-3 grades are prescribed for each commodity. Grades help farmers to get
prices for agricultural commodities as per the quality produced by them
and consumers get the desired quality. Till date, grade standards for 222
agricultural commodities have been notified.
The testing done across the state owned laboratories include
chemical analysis, microbiological analysis, pesticide residue,
and aflatoxin analysis.  The state-owned Agmark laboratories
located across the nation which act as testing and certifying
centres. In addition to the “Central AGMARK Laboratory
(CAL)” in Nagpur, there are “Regional AGMARK Laboratories
(RALs)” in 11 nodal cities (Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai,
Kolkata, Kanpur, Kochi, Guntur, Amritsar, Jaipur, Rajkot,
Bhopal).
List Of Commodities Fall Under AGMARK
 Fruits & Vegetables
1. Food grains & allied products
2. Spices & Condiments
3. Edible Nuts
4. Oil Seeds
5. Vegetable Oils & Fats
6. Oil Cakes
7. Livestock, Dairy, Poultry Products
8. Essential Oils
9. Fibre Crops
10.Other Items
AGMARK Certification and Registration Procedure: 
 
Implemented through 11 Regional Offices,27 Sub Offices, 11 Regional
Agmark Laboratories and Central Agmark Laboratory (Apex laboratory)
of the Directorate.
08 laboratories at Nagpur , Mumbai, Chennai ,Kochi ,Kolkata , Delhi,
Jaipur and Kanpur are accredited with the National Accreditation Board
for testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) as per the ISO 17025.
Persons desirous of certifying a notified agricultural commodity under
Agmark can apply to the nearest field office of the DMI. The application
form and list of required documents can be obtained from the nearest
field office or from the DMI website http://dmi.gov.in by clicking the
icon ‘Agmark’.
They should have necessary infrastructure to process the
commodity and have access to an approved laboratory for
grading or can have their own laboratory. Such persons can
apply to the concerned office of the DMI and Certificate of
Authorization is granted after verification of the infrastructure.
The approved Chemist tests the raw material and the processed
commodity before getting it packed in a suitable packing
material/containers.
The field officers of DMI keep regular check on the commodity
certified under Agmark by drawing check samples from
packers’ premises and market. Samples are analyzed in
Regional Agmark Laboratories and action deemed fit is taken if
there is any violations from the set standards.
Requirement of Agmark Application Proceedings
1. Copy of test report(s), duly authenticated, from independent Agmark
recognised laboratory.
2. Document authenticating establishment of the firm, such as Registration
by Company Registrar
3. State Authority or Memorandum of Article in case Applicant Firm is a
Limited Company
4. Partnership Deed in case the applicant firm is under Partnership.
5. Name of the products .
6. Name of the applicant
7. Name of the Firm/ Company
8. Address of the Firm/ Company
9. Sample of the product(in pouch of 500 gm.or 1 kg.
10. Started Time period of product(specify exact Date/Month/year)
11. Total gross production in K.g.(for last year)
12. Turnover of last year
Any person can also get the Agmark certified agricultural
commodity analysed for its quality parameters in Regional
Agmark Laboratories by paying analysis charges. Details of
agricultural commodities which can be got analysed, analysis
charges, etc. can be obtained from any of the Sub
Offices/Regional Offices of DMI.