Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require online retailers to state the country of origin in which the goods offered for sale were manufactured.

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (CCRs) require traders to provide consumers with specified pre-purchase information including information about the main characteristics of goods, services or digital content but this does not necessarily include the country of origin. The Government have no plan to change this rule.

However, consumers are free to enquire from the seller as to the origin of products, and to base their decision of whether or not to purchase on the reply. Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs), traders are banned from giving consumers false information or using misleading statements or presentation about the geographical or commercial origin of products including in response to requests for information by consumers. The Regulations carry criminal penalties and are enforced by local trading standards officers.