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I’m sorry for the late reporting, but I thought you would be interested in learning more about Amazon’s new country of origin (COO) policy that went into effect earlier this year.
I know that I’m not alone in wanting to know where tools are made. Amazon product listings often include country of origin details in their product information and technical details section, but there are times when COO is missing.
While I don’t have an active seller account, I continue to get Amazon vendor and seller news on occasion. Here’s an announcement email they sent me regarding new COO disclosure requirements:
Country of Origin (COO) New Mandatory Catalog Attribute
From January 4, 2021, you will be required to provide Country of Origin (COO) data in order to list products to sell on Amazon.
The COO of a product is the country where the product was produced or manufactured. If more than one country is involved in the product’s production or manufacture, the country of origin is where the last “substantial transformation” of the product occurred. Country of Origin is required at an individual marketplace level when adding products.
‘Substantial transformation’ is when the raw materials lose their original identity and become a new product (for example, a cake, where the correct country of origin is where the cake was baked, not where each individual ingredient was sourced).
Country of Origin (COO) rules require businesses to prove where their goods originated from in order to clear customs.
This is the important takeaway: Country of Origin is required at an individual marketplace level when adding products.
Sure enough, when I look at newer tool listings on Amazon, they all mention the country of origin.
Amazon has been fairly consistent with COO details, at least in recent years, and this new policy makes it mandatory for sellers that create new product listings. I would presume a similar policy was previously implemented for products sold by Amazon directly.
Hopefully other online retailers follow suit.
