Is My Spice Supplier Spices Board Registered?

Is my Indian spice supplier registered with the Spices Board?

Ask for their CRES certificate and registration number. CRES is the Spices Board’s mandatory Certificate of Registration as Exporter of Spices, needed to export the 52 scheduled spices. No CRES means they are not a registered exporter of record.

What "Spices Board registered" actually means

In India, the concrete form of Spices Board registration for an exporter is CRES: the Certificate of Registration as Exporter of Spices. It is issued by the Spices Board, carries a fee of ₹5,000, is valid for three years, and requires the applicant to already hold an IEC, PAN, GST and FSSAI licence plus a bank certificate.

So the question "are they registered?" has a specific answer: do they hold a current CRES in their own legal name? A trader who exports under a partner’s CRES is not themselves the registered exporter.

What registration proves — and what it does not

CRES proves the exporter is a recognised, food-licensed entity cleared to export scheduled spices. It does not, by itself, certify the quality, purity or lab results of any given lot. Those come from testing, not registration.

Use CRES as a gate, not a guarantee: no CRES, walk away; CRES present, then move on to lab reports, references and sample approval.

• —Registration = the entity may legally export scheduled spices.
• —Registration ≠ this specific lot passes aflatoxin, ETO or adulteration limits.
• —Always pair CRES with a recent, spice-specific third-party lab report.

Frequently asked

Does every Indian spice seller need CRES?

Anyone exporting the 52 scheduled spices needs it. A purely domestic trader may not hold one, which is exactly why you must confirm it before importing.