Back-end work begins to list origin nation tag

FIRMS ARE ASSESSING THEIR TECH PLATFORMS TO SHOW COUNTRY OF ORIGIN FOR PRODUCTS

BENGALURU: Several e-commerce firms have rolled out measures to add ‘country of origin’ on products listed on their marketplaces following a directive from the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT).

Several online retailers, who were present in Wednesday’s meeting with the DPIIT and the department of consumer affairs, said they have begun informing sellers about this requirement and are assessing their technology platforms to create the option of ‘country of origin’ during new product listings.

DPIIT wants online retailers to display ‘country of origin’ on products sold on their platforms from 1 August, and for legacy listings by September; to which it faced a push back from the retailers for the short deadline.

“We have started the process of seller awareness to start mentioning ‘country of origin’ for all the products they sell through our platform. Our platform currently does not have this feature. We have started the IT feasibility study and are trying to ascertain the estimated timeline for development to support this feature on our platform,” said Vivek Tiwari, chief executive and founder, Medikabazaar, which sells medical supplies and equipment.

Two employees of Paytm Mall confirmed a communication around ‘country of origin’ was sent to sellers when discussions with DPIIT had begun.

Now it is asking sellers to add product ID and country of origin as part of new listings on the platform.