[ansel12]

We can see the retailer doing due diligence to verify that his suppliers and foreign suppliers all meet the legal standards of the products they are making and selling if so required, but how is the end user supposed to do that?

I can hand you a box full 100 different products, and when I demand that you verify that they were all manufactured and imported according to law, where do you even start? Home Depot starts at the beginning, before they even write the contract with that supplier.

[chrisser]

We can see the retailer doing due diligence to verify that his suppliers and foreign suppliers all meet the legal standards of the products they are making and selling if so required, but how is the end user supposed to do that? I can hand you a box full 100 different products, and when I demand that you verify that they were all manufactured and imported according to law, where do you even start? Home Depot starts at the beginning, before they even write the contract with that supplier.

A) The end user is irrelevant. We're talking GSA contracts with the government. I see nothing in the article or anywhere else stating that Home Depot is somehow preventing origin information from getting to the consumer.

It's on every piece of lumber they sell, every product they stock that I've seen except for perhaps bulk bolts and nuts and if you really want to know, you can look on the bins and find the origin info. I'm very aware of where the products I buy originate, and I've never had a problem determining that at Home Depot. Why can't government purchasing agents figure it out?

What is at issue, according to the article, is that Home Depot is allowing government agencies to purchase products that government agencies order, even though there's an obscure, little-enforced, and subject-to-interpretation law that may or may not apply to some products purchased by some agencies for some projects. Apparently the onus is on Home Depot to navigate this legal minefield and prevent government representatives from ordering products that should be illegal for them to order under circumstances that only the government representative knows.

B) With the exception of perhaps raw building materials, virtually everything Home Depot sells is exactly the same product available at numerous other retail outlets, and all of the the origin information is available from the manufacturers. It's also plainly visible on the outside of the box. Unlike many retailers, Home Depot doesn't have a "house" brand that only they are responsible for.

I frankly don't see why professional government purchasing agents are incapable of obtaining information that is readily available to me when I shop at HD.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not familiar with GSA schedules. Perhaps part of the deal with working with the government is that the retailer takes on all legal responsibility of interpreting all laws that might affect purchases.