E-commerce firms get till October 1 to display 'country of origin' for existing products, August 1 for new products: Report

Flipkart

The Centre has suggested e-commerce companies finalise display of ‘country of origin’ by August 1 new products and October 1 for legacy products.

E-commerce websites in India are likely to get more time to display the country of origin for products being currently listed by sellers on their website. However, the deadline to display the origin of new products may be shorter.

The recent border dispute has sparked an anti-China sentiment throughout India. The government now wants e-commerce companies to display the country of origin for products listed on their website or app to enable consumers to make informed choices.

In a meeting held on June 25 with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), e-commerce companies stated that they are ready to comply to the new requirement but it could take a significant amount of time considering the number of products being listed online, said a report by The Hindu BusinessLine.

While Flipkart is understood to have suggested a deadline of August 15 to implement the required backend changes, Amazon sought 2-3 months for the same, sources told the Economic Times.

Meanwhile, the Centre has directed e-commerce platforms to showcase country of origin on their sites for new products by August 1 and legacy items by October 1 without stipulating a deadline.

“No decision was taken — it was only a consultation and follow-up of the previous meeting. The government will take a call on the final deadline soon,” an official told ET.

However, these e-commerce companies told the government that displaying the country of origin for the already-listed products would be difficult. This could be particularly difficult for large players like Flipkart and Amazon. 

“We understand that it might take a long time for existing products to be updated with the country of origin but it can be surely done. Sellers on the Government e-Market platform have started doing so already,” a government official said.

Some also raised concerns over products not getting sold due to the country origin tag. 

On the issue of how the ‘country of origin’ is to be defined and whether sellers will also have to account for the inputs sourced from a foreign country used in their products, the official said that there was already an established system for this.

The government has also enabled a provision for the indication of the percentage of local content in products.