Govt eyes country of origin tag by Aug

LARGER PLAYERS HAVE SOUGHT A TIMELINE OF THREE MONTHS TO EXECUTE THE PROPOSAL

BENGALURU/NEWDELHI: The government is keen to make it mandatory to display ‘country of origin’ of products sold on e-commerce platforms starting August 1, but online retailers have pushed back saying the deadline may not be feasible.

The department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) on Wednesday held a second meeting on the matter after the initial consultation two weeks ago, attended by close to 30 e-commerce players. DPIIT made it clear that it is looking to have ‘country of origin’ available for new listings on e-commerce platforms by August 1, and for legacy listings by the end of September, two officials of e-commerce companies present in the meeting told Mint under condition of anonymity. “We heard the views of the e-commerce players. A date for implementation of the ‘country or origin’ proposal has not been finalized yet. We will consult with the department of consumer affairs before taking a final call as packaging is their domain,” a

DPIIT official said requesting anonymity.

Larger players like Amazon and Flipkart requested a timeline of three months to execute the proposal. “Amazon stated that it has lakhs of sellers, and it will be difficult to convince them to mention ‘country of origin’ for every product, asking for a timeline of 3 months. Flipkart shared the same sentiment, and said that it needs to train the sellers and rejig its technology platform,” said a representative of online retailer present in the meeting. Two individuals Mint spoke to confirmed that Amazon and Flipkart haven’t reached out to its sellers yet on the request to mention ‘country of origin’ on listings.