Can You Hide Supplier and Country of Origin in Merchant Trade? Here’s the Real Truth

Dhriti Mukherjee
7 days ago
3 min read

Merchanting trade opens exciting opportunities — buying goods from one country and selling to another without goods physically entering your own country (like India).

But for many new merchant traders, a common and tricky question arises:

Can I hide the supplier’s name or the country of origin on shipping documents like the Certificate of Origin (COO)?

The answer isn't as simple as a yes or no.

Let’s dive deep into the real-world practices, what’s legal, what’s risky, and smart ways traders protect their business secrets.

Why Traders Want to Hide Supplier or Buyer Names

In merchant trade, you are the middleman connecting:

Supplier (say, Tanzania) → You (Merchant Trader in India) → Buyer (say, China)

Naturally, you want to protect your business by preventing:

The supplier and buyer from contacting each other directly and cutting you out.
The buyer knows your sourcing cost.
The supplier knows your selling price or market.

Thus, merchant traders often seek ways to mask identities, especially on critical documents like invoices, bills of lading, and certificates of origin.

The Reality: You Can Hide Names, But Not the True Origin

Here’s the clear truth:

You can hide the supplier’s and buyer’s names on some documents.
You cannot legally hide or change the country of origin on a Certificate of Origin (COO).

Changing the real country of origin is illegal under:

WTO rules (Rules of Origin Agreement)
Indian FEMA and Customs law
International maritime laws
Importing a country's customs (China’s customs in this case)

Attempting to falsify origin can cause serious penalties, cargo seizures, and blacklisting.

Smart Legal Ways to Protect Yourself

Even though you can’t hide Tanzania as the country of origin, you can strategically protect your supplier’s identity.

Here’s how smart traders do it:

Technique	What It Does	Impact
Switch Bill of Lading	Replaces the original shipper's and consignee’s details after goods are loaded.	Hides the supplier and buyer from each other.
COO with “To Order” Exporter and Consignee	Shows only "To Order" instead of actual names on the Certificate of Origin	Keeps supplier and buyer names confidential.
Neutral Packing List and Commercial Invoices	You create your own packing list and invoice without supplier info.	Further masks the commercial trail.
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)	Legal contracts prevent supplier or buyer from bypassing you.	Adds an extra layer of business protection.

Sample Certificate of Origin Structure in Merchant Trade

When you want to minimise disclosure, a typical COO would look like this:

Certificate of Origin

Exporter: To Order

Consignee: To Order

Country of Origin: Tanzania

Description: Raw Cashew Nuts, Grade A

Port of Loading: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Port of Discharge: Shanghai, China

Declaration: Goods wholly obtained in Tanzania.

This keeps the Tanzanian supplier’s name hidden while legally stating the correct origin (Tanzania).

What You Cannot Do (Very Important)

You cannot fake the country of origin (e.g., showing India instead of Tanzania).
You cannot issue a fake COO — only authorised bodies like the Chamber of Commerce in the exporting country can issue it.
You cannot switch country of origin unless the goods undergo "substantial transformation" (manufacturing, reprocessing) in another country.

Neutral Invoices and Packing Lists: The Secret Sauce

Besides managing the Certificate of Origin smartly, you can also:

Issue your own commercial invoice and packing list under your company’s name (Merchant Trader).
These documents can hide the supplier’s name completely.
Your Chinese buyer only deals with your documents, not the supplier's documents.

Many experienced merchant traders use neutral documents along with a switch BL to maintain full confidentiality.

Merchant Trade Secrecy Is Possible — But Smartly and Legally

In merchant trade:

Supplier and buyer names can be protected.
Country of origin must remain true and visible.

Using tools like Switch BL, neutral documents, and NDAs, you can successfully shield your supplier-buyer relationships without risking customs penalties.

In today’s fast-moving global market, protecting your supply chain is not just smart — it’s survival.

Quick Merchant Trade Survival Checklist

Use Switch Bill of Lading
Create a Neutral Packing List and Invoice
Ask for “To Order” COO if possible
Always mention the correct country of origin
Sign NDAs with suppliers and buyers
Always coordinate closely with your freight forwarder and bank