Amazon India has made it mandatory for sellers on its platform to disclose the ‘country of origin’ of new and existing product listings by August 10.
The online retail giant warned sellers that they could face action, including suspension of listings if they fail to do so.
Amazon said in a mail to sellers that ‘country of origin’ will be introduced as a mandatory attribute from July 21. ET has reviewed a copy of the mail.
“You will be required to provide information for country of origin mandatorily for all your new and existing listings,” the mail read.
The development comes at a time when the government is negotiating with e-commerce companies to ensure that all products listed on their apps and websites carry the country of origin tag.
The move is being viewed as part of India’s strategy to curb foreign imports, specifically from China.
An Amazon portal for seller information has also been updated with the new mandate.
Rival ecommerce platforms Flipkart and Snapdeal have, for the past few years, provided sellers a field to disclose country of origin information, but have not yet made it mandatory.
“Please ensure that the information added by you is accurate and updated at all times, as you will be solely responsible to ensure accuracy. Failure to provide information in the country of origin attributed to August 10, 2020 may lead to enforcement action,” Amazon’s communication to sellers said.
Amazon is also asking sellers to input the contact information of the importer if the product is from from outside the country.
Amazon did not respond to ET’s email till press time on Wednesday.
There is no government directive yet requiring ecommerce sellers to mandate country of origin on product listings.
A senior government official told ET that the government had not set a deadline for e-commerce companies to comply with the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodity) Rules.
“If someone is deciding to become compliant with the rules before any deadline, there’s nothing wrong with that,” the official added. “But there has been no mandate with respect to this.”
ET reported on July 8 that the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had asked e-commerce companies to display the country of origin of all new listings on their platform by August 1 and for all legacy listings by October 1.
However, the companies had sought more time to implement the changes.
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