Sellers must spell out ‘country of origin’ for products on Govt e-Marketplace

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Tuesday the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal has made it mandatory for sellers to submit the country of origin while registering any new product on the online procurement portal. In line with this action, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is also examining a proposal put forth by a group of traders seeking mandatory ‘country of origin’ tag for products listed on private e-commerce platforms as well, a senior government official told The Indian Express.

This comes at a time when the Centre is pushing the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” campaign to promote locally produced goods and several departments have also launched an offensive against imports from China.