Country of origin refers to the country where the item is produced, irrespective of the point of shipping. For instance, if a Chinese-made mobile handset is shipped via Vietnam to India, the country of origin will still remain China, not Vietnam. Last October, the consumer affairs ministry had written to both Flipkart and Amazon India for not displaying the mandatory declarations of ‘country of origin’. “The Legal Metrology Rules as well as the recently notified E-Commerce Rules 2020 prescribe the requirement for disclosure of ‘country of origin’. Such a requirement to determine and disclose ‘country of origin’ already existed under the Customs law.

Source: Mint August 10, 2021 19:27 UTC