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urkish business associations have blamed trade barriers as the cause of a deficit in their country'€™s trade with Indonesia.

The Istanbul Exporters Association (IEA) said that halal certification and import permits had hindered Turkish confectionery products entering the Indonesian market.

According to the group, the value of Indonesia'€™s exports to Turkey '€” mostly fiber, flannel and palm oil '€” reached US$1.4 billion in 2014, while the value of Turkey'€™s exports to the Southeast Asian country, mostly tobacco and machinery products, totaled only $227 million.

IEA chairman Zekeriya Mete said that Turkey relied on Indonesia for palm oil, cocoa and coconuts to produce various kinds of confectionery, but faced many obstacles in selling its processed products to Indonesia.

The obstacles include import licenses and halal certification, which take months to obtain.

'€œIt takes many months to get the certificates. During this time the relationship gets sour,'€ Mete said.

He said that the group had tried to get in touch with the Indonesian government during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s administration to ease relations, but the barriers remained until now.

Turkish Confectionery Promotion Group chairman Hidayet Kadiroglu said import licensing in Indonesia could take up to two years, leaving the direct import of Turkish confectionery to Indonesia yet to begin.

'€œIndonesia has the hardest halal certification process that takes eight months to a year. [Turkish companies] have no problems to proceed in Malaysia and Thailand, even the UK,'€ he said.

Kadiroglu said when halal certificates were ready, companies were still constrained by import permits.

The chairman of Elvan Group, which produces candy, chocolate, wafers and baked goods, said that if the Indonesian government could ease the import process, it would not be impossible for Turkish companies, including his, to invest in opening factories in Indonesia.

He cited as an example that his company was building a plant in India to keep up with its domestic market and the region.

Amidhan Shaberah, a member of the Indonesian Ulema Council'€™s (MUI) advisory board, who deals with halal certification, dismissed claims that certification took a long time.

He said that for local products, certification should be complete within two weeks if the applicant fulfilled all requirements.

For foreign companies wishing to offer food products on the Indonesian market, Amidhan said the MUI had 45 certifiers in 23 countries to assist with certification, including in European countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands.

He admitted, however, that there were no certifiers in Turkey.

'€œTurkey is not part of the World Halal Food Council [WHFC], with which the Indonesian halal certification standard complies. The Turkish government still follows the standards of the World Halal Council [WHC], which was dismissed in 2011,'€ said Amidhan.

Established in Jakarta in 1999, the WHFC has changed names several times, including to the WHC. In 2011, Indonesia, along with the US, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia and several European countries decided to return to the use of the WHFC and established a permanent head office in Jakarta. Other countries such as Turkey and Malaysia remain using the WHC.

Amidhan said it would help if Turkey could become a member of WHFC, which has more member countries than the WHC.

He added that Indonesian halal certification compliance should not be a problem for Turkish companies as Turkey and Indonesia once used the same standards during the early days of the WHFC.

'€œWe are more than ready to welcome Turkey, and there have been some talks with [the Turkish government] toward that direction,'€ said Amidhan.