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Halal certification hard for MSMEs
Many industry players have said that they will have no problems complying with the regulation mandating halal certification, which the government recently issued to implement Law No
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span>Many industry players have said that they will have no problems complying with the regulation mandating halal certification, which the government recently issued to implement Law No. 33/2014 on the halal product guarantee.
The new regulation was issued following the May 14 launch of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s 2019-2024 sharia economy master plan.
However, the country’s micro, small and medium (MSME) food and beverage producers will find it a challenge meeting the mandatory halal certification, as they would need to spend additional funding and time to obtain the certificate.
The Halal Certification Agency (BPJPH) of the Religious Affairs Ministry is to coordinate with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to approve halal certification for food and beverages, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and fashion products under the government regulation.
Indonesian Food and Beverage Association (GAPMMI) chairman Adhi S. Lukman appreciated the government for finally providing certainty on the regulation that had been under discussion for several years.
“We have told the BPJPH that [food and beverage producers] were unlikely to obtain certification at the same time, so the government has considered providing a transition period for us [to comply with the rule],” Adhi told The Jakarta Post by phone on Tuesday.
GAPMMI had proposed that the transition period last until 2024, far beyond the law’s October 2019 deadline, in order to provide enough time for all food and beverage manufacturers to obtain their halal certificate.
Adhi said that obtaining halal certification would not be much of a chore for the 6,000 or so medium and large manufacturers in the industry, as they were used to fulfilling certification requirements prior to releasing their products.
The real challenge, he said, was for the over 1.6 million MSMEs across the country that would need to spend considerable funds and time for the certification, an investment that was not very viable for such manufacturers.
“Fortunately, the government is also willing to discuss a subsidy program for these small food and beverage manufacturers. We hope that this will materialize soon,” said Adhi.
Separately, Vincent Harijanto, the head of the trade and pharmaceutical materials industry committee at the Indonesian Pharmaceutical Association (GP Farmasi), said the pharmaceutical industry would be relatively unaffected by the new regulation.
He pointed out that Article 74 of the regulation allowed pharmaceutical products to be marketed without halal certification if the products used ingredients that did not have a halal substitution, provided that the product label contained a disclaimer.
“Nevertheless, we will look further into the regulation [to examine the requirements],” Vincent told the Post.
“If any adjustments are needed in implementing the regulation, we will check back with the authorities,” he said.
Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said that under Law No. 33/2014, the MUI still reserved the right to issue a fatwa declaring the halal status of a certain product.
“That [fatwa] issuance will serve as the basis for the BPJPH to issue a halal certificate,” Lukman said in a press statement.
The ministry planned to issue at least four more supporting regulations in the coming months on matters like the certification deadline, halal product categories and ingredient sourcing, Lukman added.
BPJPH head Sukoso also said in the press statement that products required to have halal certification were products made from or containing animal products and by-products.
“As for products that require certification but are still undergoing the process, they will still be allowed on the Indonesian market under the condition that they display a certain logo on the label explaining their [pending] halal status,” he said.
The Industry Ministry is also expected to issue a ministerial regulation on developing industrial parks specializing in manufacturing halal goods.
Industry Ministry industrial zoning director Ignatius Warsito said halal industrial parks would become a one-stop service for halal goods producers, as they would offer facilities like licensing offices, licensing consultancies and halal testing laboratories.
