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Businesspeople not yet ready with mandatory halal certification
The Halal Products Guarantee Law, which was passed by the House of Representatives in 2014, will take effect on Oct. 17.
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People buy meat at a supermarket near Gunung Putri, West Java. The Halal Products Guarantee Law, which was passed by the House of Representatives in 2014, will take effect on Oct. 17. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
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fter about five years of preparation, the 2014 Halal Products Guarantee Law will take effect on Oct. 17. But many companies, especially those involved in the production of food and beverages, will unlikely be able to obtain the certificates due to high certification costs.
Indonesian Food and Beverage Association (Gapmmi) vice chairman Rachmat Hidayat said thousands of food and beverage producers would be unable to obtain the certificates not only as a result of high certification costs but also because of the complicated auditing process.
“We do not want anyone to restrict the sales of unlabeled products,” he said during a discussion in Jakarta on Wednesday. Rachmat said there were at least 1.6 million food and beverage producers from micro to big enterprises in the country that had yet to be certified.
He also doubted that the new government agency for halal certification, the Halal Certification Agency (BPJPH), could handle the influx of registrants. “If halal certification became a license to operate, I am worried that our micro and small enterprises would not be able to compete with the bigger producers who are able to pay for certification,” he said, adding that he preferred that halal labeling be made voluntary for businesses claiming to be providing halal goods and services.
Indonesian Franchising and Licensing Society (Wali) chairwoman Levita Supit Ginting also expressed her worry over the possibility of the circulation of fake halal certificates, as producers find a cheaper and faster way to obtain it. “I hope this law will not discourage people from becoming entrepreneurs,” she said.
BPJPH registration and certification center head Matsuki said the new tariff had yet to be announced but it would not burden micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
He added there would be "facilitation" for those who were unable to pay for halal certification, such as through a government-appointed halal product supervisor.
