The Industry Ministry launched the country's first locally made halal corrective glasses made by PT Atalla Indonesia on Tuesday.

A 2014 law on halal certification for all products took effect on Oct. 17 this year. Food and beverage companies are the first type of companies required to obtain the certification. Meanwhile, other companies are required to obtain halal certification within five years starting Oct. 17, 2021, according to the 2019 government regulation on the law’s implementation.

“I appreciate PT Atalla Indonesia’s efforts. Despite glasses not yet being a product that needs halal certification, the company has done it,” Gati said on Tuesday, Antara news agency reported.

The law is aimed at providing consumers with comfort, security, safety and certainty on halal products, as well as to increase added value for producers, she added.

Speaking on the same occasion, Atalla Indonesia director Wenjoko Sidharta said its product had been halal-certified on Oct. 2.

“We were led [to pursue halal certification] given that the majority of Indonesian citizens are Muslims,” he said. “Halal certification will also add value and enhance the branding of our products in the eyes of the Indonesian people, which is predominantly Muslim."

The company employs 500 workers and can produce up to 60,000 frames and lenses a day.

The ministry has recorded 15 companies in the frames and lenses industry operating in the country employing 6,300 employees. PT Atalla Indonesia is reportedly the only local company that generates its own products, ranging from frame-making to accessories. Glasses in the country are mainly imported from China-based companies.

The ministry recorded the value of glasses exports at US$85.7 million and imports worth $90.4 million as of September. (sau)

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