CAIT hails victory as Amazon asks sellers to display products’ country of origin

One of the world’s biggest online marketplaces, Amazon has asked its sellers in India to display ‘Country of Origin’ on products listed on its platform starting July 21 of this year.

The Confederation of All India Trader (CAIT) is hailing this decision as a win in the battle against e-commerce companies. Component of value addition should also be adhered to without any further delay, a CAIT spokesperson said.

In a communiqué to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on June 15, CAIT had raised the demand for ‘Country of Origin’ listing and value addition norms for e-marketplaces. Taking cognizance of the demand, the Government of India made it mandatory for its GeM portal to display ‘Country of Origin’ by each seller followed by directing e-commerce portals to implement the same on their respective platforms.

General Secretary of CAIT, Praveen Khandelwal hailed the Centre’s pro-active approach that has prompted e-commerce companies to display ‘Country of Origin’. “The Legal Metrology Act was amended in 2017, making it compulsory for e-commerce companies to display country of origin. It is astonishing that for three years, no effort was made by e-commerce companies to implement such a legal binding and it is when the CAIT raised the issue on June 15 followed by convening a meeting by DPIIT with e-commerce companies, the law has been in the implementation stage.”

“E-commerce players operating in India should also follow the decision of Amazon immediately and CAIT will call upon DPIIT to compel e-commerce companies to follow the law,” Praveen Khandelwal added.