Deadline for ecommerce firms to assign 'country of origin' tags to all items set at September 30: Report

The union industry department has asked ecommerce companies to make sure all their items have the ‘Country of origin’ tag by September 30, according to a report by Mint. Initially, the deadline was set for August 1 but the move saw massive opposition by retailers.

“We have asked e-commerce players to complete the exercise by September 30," an official at the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) told the publication.

Two e-commerce executives aware of the discussions told the publication that the new deadline was mentioned by the DPIIT only during a recent meeting and that any written circular has not been released yet.

“Though the government would like it to be sooner than later, I doubt September 30 deadline is practical. For new listings it is possible, but for old listings, much more time is required. Some trade bodies have written that companies would need six to seven months. Some companies have written back saying for legacy listings it will be impossible to meet the deadline as in a physical lockdown, it is not possible to access the goods physically and check the country of origin in the packet. We want it to do be done quickly but it is the sellers who have to do it not the platforms. The problem is that sellers are not in those meetings though they have to do 90% of the work," one of the e-commerce representatives said.

The country of origin refers to the country where the item was originally produced irrespective of the point from which it was shipped. The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal, has also asked sellers to mention the 'Country of origin' mandatorily for all new products while registering them.

Besides, in an attempt to achieve self-reliance under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Mission, India is also looking forward to reduce its more than $50 billion trade deficit with China. Chinese imports and investments have taken a hit since the Galwan Valley attack that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.