Govt Asks E-Commerce Companies To Display 'Country Of Origin' On New Products By 1 August

Amazon and Flipkart, the leading e-commerce platforms in India, have been asked by the government to display the country of origin on the new products listed by the sellers on their sites by 1 August, while the same about legacy items should be displayed by 1 October, reports Economic Times.

At an online meeting with government officials on Wednesday (8 July), the e-commerce companies sought more time to implement the changes which are part of Centre's efforts to curb the imports.

“The government wants that new listings be updated by 1 August and the old ones by 1 October but it was decided that work on the new ones must begin as soon as possible,” a company official was quoted as saying after the virtual meeting.

A call on the final deadline for displaying the information will be taken by the government soon, an official said.

Besides, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will also discuss introduction of relevant legal provisions with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs on listing such information.

The current law reportedly has no requirement to display country of origin on non-packaged goods.

The e-commerce platforms said that the measures should be introduced in a phased manner with the involvement of manufacturers and sellers.

The virtual meeting was attended by representative of as many as 30 e-commerce sites including Amazon, Flipkart, Jio, Shoppers Stop, Snapdeal, HomeShop18, Tata Cliq, Swiggy and Zomato among others.