T

he government aims to enforce the 2014 Halal Certification Law as part of what it calls a commitment to protect Muslims from products forbidden under Islamic rules. The 2014 law requires all products traded in Indonesia to be certified halal.

Such mandatory certification has drawn criticism, with a consumer organization saying a halal label is not what consumers need.

Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) researcher Sudaryatmo said on Tuesday that, rather than requiring halal certification, displaying clearly a list of ingredients contained in a product would help all consumers, not just Muslims, understand whether a product contained religiously-prohibited substances.

“Regulations on permissible food and drinks must be universal. There are followers of a religion other than Islam that are prohibited from consuming certain food. Listing ingredients of a product would be helpful for them as well,” Sudaryatmo told The Jakarta Post.

Inaugurated on Oct. 11, the Halal Certification Agency (BPJPH) under the Religious Affairs Ministry is now in charge of overseeing the process of issuing halal certificates, based on the 2014 law.

Taking control of all halal certification matters previously handled by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the BPJPH is racing against time to complete all legal and technical requirements, including setting fees and building standardized testing labs, before launching full-fledged operations at the beginning of 2019.

Religious Affairs Ministry spokesman Mastuki told the Post that the ministry was now completing a regulation, before further details on technical aspects, including certification fees, would be decided. “Until then, the job is still being handled by the MUI,” he said.

A business entity wanting to get a halal label must register its product with the MUI, which will conduct tests in a lab run by a third party. A halal certificate can be obtained within two or three weeks for a fee of up to Rp 5 million (US$369). The certificate must be renewed every two years.

Once BPJPH is fully operational, it will take more time for a business to get a halal certificate. The whole process may take around 50 days, according to information from the agency.

A business first needs to register its product with the BPJPH for laboratory testing, before the MUI issues a fatwa based on the lab results. The BPJPH will issue a certificate only after the council issues its fatwa declaring a product halal.

Indonesian Food and Beverage Association (GAPMMI) head Adhi S Lukman said his association welcomed the new policy, which it believed could increase the quality of products. The main concern was whether the BPJPH was able to handle all proposals for halal certification in a timely fashion, given that such certification would become mandatory, he said.

According to GAPMMI data, the MUI can only process around 6,000 halal certificate applications a year, while around 6,000 big companies and 1.6 million home-based businesses needed their products certified.

“If even the MUI, an organization with vast experience [in issuing the halal label], can only process around 6,000 applications a year, what about a new institution?” Adhi asked.

Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), expressed similar concerns. It rejected the new policy for fear it would hamper investment, as the required halal certification would be an additional hassle for businesses in a country that is struggling to alleviate complicated business regulations.

NU executive M. Sulton Fathoni said halal assurance for Muslim consumers could be achieved by strengthening supervision and law enforcement on products assumed to be halal but tainted with haram substances.