With the nation going against Chinese products after tensions between Indian and Chinese army at the border, the government is now trying to get a tighter grasp on the products that are being sold on e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, and other e-commerce websites.?
Indian government has asked eCommerce platforms to clearly display the country of origin on the upcoming products that are listed on their sites, as early as August 1, and the existing line of items by October 1, without issuing an official deadline.
This was revealed at an online meeting the officials organised with eCommerce giants of the nation. According to an official who was a part of this meeting, in a conversation with ET, the authorities are doing this with a way to curb imports and have informed the eCommerce companies to introduce the measures in phases.
As per current law, displaying of the country of origin isn¡¯t mandatory on non-packaged goods. However, this is expected to change soon as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is currently in discussions for introducing necessary legal provisions with consumer affairs ministry.?
The government official aware about the advancements said, No decision was taken ¡ª it was only a consultation and follow-up of the previous meeting. A deadline will be decided later because packaging issues come under the consumer affairs ministry.¡±?
eCommerce giants have raised concern that they might need more time than that. Flipkart has suggested a deadline of August 15, whereas Amazon has sought two to three months for this transition.?
The official added, ¡°The government wants that new listings be updated by August 1 and the old ones by October 1 but it was decided that work on the new ones must begin as soon as possible.¡±
The authorities have also stated that they¡¯re going to revise the Legal Metrology Rules that look after pre-packed commodities (like groceries) and add details about country of origin, date of manufacture, quantity, expiry date and manufacturing details.?
Some eCommerce executives feel that this will put offline sellers at an advantage, stating, ¡°Participants said that sellers can only reproduce what is on the package and the government needs to rope in manufacturers if they want details on value addition such as photograph of the label showing origin, assembly and other details,¡±?
Executives also highlight that this will cause more pain to small-scale sellers, especially at a time when they¡¯re barely recuperating from the damage done by COVID-19 lockdown.?