How We Work: An Export Consultant, Not an Agent

Last reviewed on 7 October 2026. Written by Pratham Agarwal, Founder, Rasp International.

Advisory integrity for exporters who fear touts and middlemen

Many business owners in international trade approach government incentive schemes with deep hesitation. Unregulated agents, touts and middlemen frequently demand blank cheques, promise instant approvals or ask for cash payments under the table. When documentation fails or an audit arrives, these agents vanish, leaving the exporter liable for penalties, blacklisting and financial recovery.

Rasp International works on a different model. We are an EXIM and DGFT consultancy, not a tout or a middleman. When you engage us, we handle the work end to end: we check eligibility, prepare the papers, file the application or claim for you in your unit’s name, answer queries and track it to the end. If you prefer to file yourself, we guide your team instead.

This page explains how we work: fees, filing, logins, confidentiality and the limits we keep. If you want someone to promise an approval or push a file through informal channels, we are not the right firm for you.

What an independent trade consultant does and does not do

Understanding the strict legal and professional boundary between a professional consultant and an unregulated tout is essential before engaging any advisory service. In international trade compliance, precision and legal accountability determine whether your enterprise thrives or faces regulatory sanctions.

What a professional consultant does

• Reviews primary government notifications, circulars and policy guidelines to assess enterprise eligibility accurately.
• Audits internal company documentation, invoices, shipping bills, bank realization certificates and statutory registrations before any submission.
• Identifies procedural discrepancies, mismatched descriptions or missing compliance schedules that could trigger departmental rejection.
• Coordinates compliance requirements across licensed logistics providers, customs brokers and chartered accountants.
• Drafts formal compliance dossiers, verification certificates and procedural representations in strict accordance with statutory formats.
• Files the application or claim for the client, in the client unit’s name, when engaged to do so, or guides the client’s team if the client prefers to file.

What an ethical consultant does not do

• We do not file anything in our own name or pose as the applicant. Every application is made in your unit’s name and with your approval. The unit remains legally responsible for the facts in it.
• We do not hold our own Customs Broker licence (formerly CHA) or Multimodal Transport Operator (MTO) licence. When logistics, freight forwarding or customs clearance services are required, we coordinate through licensed partner organisations.
• We do not promise predetermined approvals, pre-determined sanction percentages or accelerated departmental payment dates. Government sanction committees exercise sovereign discretion based on budgetary allocations and regulatory scrutiny.
• We do not claim official state endorsement, empanelment or statutory authorization from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) or state departments. No private advisory firm holds statutory authorization to promise state sanctions.
• We never offer, pay or facilitate bribes, speed money or informal inducements. Every interaction complies with anti-bribery legislation and professional ethics.

Transparent fee structure: separate government and professional lines

A classic hallmark of an untrustworthy agent is the bundled quote, where government processing fees, portal charges, professional advisory and unspecified departmental expenses are rolled into an opaque lump sum. This structure conceals inflated margins and creates opportunities for unethical practices.

At Rasp International, every commercial engagement follows an unbundled, dual-line billing structure:

• Line 1: Government fees: any fee prescribed by a government department, portal or certifying body is shown separately. Where we pay it on your behalf, we recover it at actual through a separate debit note. It is never added to our professional fee.
• Line 2: Professional fee: our fee for the work, set out in a written scope of work and billed on a GST invoice.

By separating statutory charges from professional fees, the exporter retains full transparency over every rupee spent, eliminating hidden markups and unethical departmental claims.

Zero false promises: why we never promise approvals or timelines

Under both central export schemes administered by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade and state incentive schemes notified by the Department of MSME and Export Promotion of Uttar Pradesh, subsidy sanctions are discretionary government administrative decisions. Every application is subject to desk scrutiny, document verification, departmental queries and committee approval.

Furthermore, government incentive disbursements operate on a first-come, first-served basis within the annual budgetary allocations sanctioned by the legislature. If an annual scheme budget is exhausted before an application reaches the disbursing authority, disbursements may be queued or deferred until fresh budgetary provisions are approved.

Because government scrutiny committees and finance departments retain sovereign authority over public disbursements, any intermediary who promises assured approvals or a fixed payment date is misleading you. At Rasp International, we stand by our procedural rigor, technical accuracy and compliance thoroughness. We never promise government outcomes that lie beyond legal control.

Ethics and anti-corruption: zero tolerance for informal payments

Integrity is non-negotiable in our practice. Rasp International does not participate in, facilitate or condone any form of bribery, speed money or informal payments to government officials or departmental staff. Our advisory practice is rooted in statutory law and verifiable procedural compliance.

When an application is prepared correctly, supported by primary invoices, bank realization certificates, shipping bills and valid statutory registrations, it stands on its own merits under published government guidelines. If a department raises a formal query, we assist the exporter in preparing a factual, documented response citing the relevant government notification clauses. We do not engage in informal backroom negotiations.

Client confidentiality and document security

Exporters must handle sensitive commercial information, including foreign buyer identities, product pricing structures, manufacturing costs, bank account statements and international trade contracts. Entrusting these documents to careless middlemen carries severe commercial risk.

We treat all client documentation with strict institutional confidentiality:

• Non-disclosure protection: All client engagements are governed by formal confidentiality terms protecting proprietary trade information, client identity and transaction data.
• No unauthorised marketing: We never publish client business names, trade volumes, turnover figures or case studies in marketing materials without prior written consent.
• Secure information management: Technical documentation and compliance files are stored within encrypted digital environments with access restricted strictly to assigned advisory professionals.

Coordination through licensed partners for logistics and customs

International trade involves licensed service providers. Customs clearance is done by a customs broker licensed under the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018. Multimodal transport operators are registered under the Multimodal Transportation of Goods Act, 1993.

Rasp International is a trade advisory firm and does not hold its own Customs Broker licence or Multimodal Transport Operator licence. When an exporter requires physical freight forwarding, container booking or port customs clearance, we coordinate with accredited, licensed partners who hold statutory credentials. This collaborative model ensures that our clients receive verified operational support while maintaining clean regulatory separation.

Navigating central and state export frameworks

Whether your enterprise is exploring central trade facilitation programmes through our DGFT consultants advisory or assessing regional state initiatives through the UP export subsidy schemes hub, procedural diligence is the only reliable path to sustainable compliance.

Our role is to guide your leadership team through the specific criteria, documentation checklists and audit requirements that define each regulatory scheme. We ensure your statutory registrations, such as Udyam Registration, Importer Exporter Code and state promotional memberships, are structured correctly before expenses are incurred, protecting your business from procedural disqualification.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an export consultant and an agent?

A consultant works in the open: a written scope, a separate professional fee, filings in your unit’s name and no promise of approval. A tout often asks for cash, bundles hidden charges, claims special access and disappears when a query comes. We work as a consultant, end to end.

Do you promise that my export subsidy claim will be approved?

No ethical consultancy can promise government approvals. Incentive sanctions depend entirely on departmental scrutiny, document authenticity and state budgetary provisions within the financial year. Rasp International ensures your dossier complies fully with statutory guidelines, minimizing procedural errors, but final approval remains under sovereign authority of the competent committee.

Can Rasp International file subsidy applications on our behalf?

Yes. When you engage us, we prepare the papers and file the application or claim for you, in your unit’s name and with your approval, then answer queries and track it to a decision. If you prefer to file yourself, we guide your team step by step instead.

How are government fees paid?

Government fees are always kept separate from our fee. Where we pay a government fee on your behalf, we recover it at actual through a separate debit note. Our professional fee is billed separately on a GST invoice under a written scope of work, so you can see every rupee.

Does Rasp International hold a Customs Broker licence?

Rasp International is an independent export compliance and trade advisory firm. We do not hold a Customs Broker licence or Multimodal Transport Operator licence. When physical customs clearance or freight forwarding is required, we coordinate directly through established, licensed partner organizations possessing statutory credentials.

Are you empanelled or officially recognized by DGFT or state departments?

No. Rasp International is an independent advisory firm and does not claim government empanelment, official state recognition or special authorization from DGFT or state departments. Any consultant claiming official empanelment to promise approvals is misleading exporters, as statutory applications are evaluated strictly on published rules.

How are professional fees billed to client enterprises?

Professional fees are billed under formal commercial tax invoices with applicable GST, separate from any statutory government charges. Our quotations specify exact deliverables, scope of review and dossier preparation milestones. We never bundle private fees with government charges, ensuring complete financial transparency for client leadership.

What happens if a government department raises a query on our claim?

When a scrutiny committee or portal officer issues a clarification query, Rasp International helps your team examine the query details. We draft factual, evidence-based responses and organize supporting documentation in compliance with statutory orders within the prescribed response window, ensuring your claim remains legally valid.

How does Rasp International protect sensitive company documents?

All client documents, including invoices, shipping bills, financial statements and buyer communications, are treated under strict confidentiality protocols. We never share proprietary business information with third parties and we never use client business names or financial figures in promotional marketing without explicit written consent.

Why is paying bribes or speed money harmful to exporters?

Bribery is an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for the person who gives a bribe as well as the one who takes it. Under the UP export orders, false or hidden facts also lead to recovery of the full amount and blacklisting. A complete, correct claim does not need it.

Can you help us recover claims rejected due to agent errors?

It depends on the case. We review the rejected file to see what went wrong. The UP export orders do not provide an appeal route, so depending on the facts we may help with a representation to the department or a fresh claim where the window is still open. We do not promise a reversal.

Why do we need a consultant if portals are fully online?

While government portals allow direct electronic filing, approval requires strict adherence to notification clauses, statutory timing rules, specific CA certificate formats and document reconciliation. A consultant helps identify compliance gaps before submission, preventing common errors that lead to automatic rejection by scrutiny officers.

How Rasp International helps

Rasp International is an ISO 9001:2015 certified EXIM and DGFT consultancy based in Agra, with a family legacy in international trade since 2005 and more than 500 exporters served. We work end to end: eligibility checks, papers, filing in your unit’s name, query replies and tracking, with government fees and our professional fee always shown separately.

Approval and payment rest with the government, so we do not promise either. We make sure your papers are complete, consistent and on time.

Want to know exactly what we would do for your file? Message Rasp International on WhatsApp and we will send you a written scope of work.

Sources

• Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018 (CBIC) and the Multimodal Transportation of Goods Act, 1993.
• Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018.
• UP export orders under Government Order No. 684/18-4-2025/18-4099/31/2025 dated 3 September 2025: recovery and blacklisting clauses.

This is general guidance. Rules change. Verify against the current order or the current portal screen before you file or pay.

Related: DGFT consultants | UP export subsidy schemes | Export Promotion Bureau and UPEPC registration | Contact Rasp International