New Delhi, July 10 (KNN) Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said that companies and e-commerce firms need to display the country of origin of products, in compliance with Packaged Commodities Rules, 2011, failing which they will face penal action.

While addressing media persons on Thursday, Paswan asserted that ''the consumer affairs ministry has instructed the manufacturers to declare details such as the country of origin of the product, manufacturing details along with expiry of the products.''

 ''The ministry is constituting a team under an assistant secretary-level officer to monitor any such violation,” he added.

Packaged Commodities Rules, 2011 make it mandatory for all manufacturers to declare the package name and address of the manufacturer, common and generic name of commodity, net quantity, month and year of manufacturing, MRP and consumer care details. In addition to these, in 2017, new provisions were added for e-commerce websites such as Amazon, Flipkart and so on, making it compulsory for them to display these informations along with “declaration of country of origin or manufacture or assembly” and a clear mention of expiry date.

There are punitive provisions in the law. For the first offence, a penalty up to Rs 25,000 can be charged, for the second offence, the fine may extend to Rs 50,000. Any subsequent offences can attract a jail term of one year.

The legal metrology officials across the country have to ensure that this information is printed on the packets, failing which they can punish the manufacturers.