Halal Industry Indonesia: What is Halal and Halal Certificate?
Halal means there are no Haram ingredients in consumer goods such as food, drugs, and cosmetics. What is Haram, then? Haram is everything that contains pork, lard, animal blood, dead and poisonous animals, and non-haram animals slaughtered without Islamic-Law compliance. Furthermore, to convince customers that a product doesn’t contain any Haram ingredients also permissible to consume, we need a Halal Certificate to prove. As an instrument of the halal industry in Indonesia, Halal Certification declares that the products follow Islamic Law.
Indonesian Halal Certificate Issuing Authority
The National Body of Halal Assurance (BPJPH) is the highest authority to certify and issue a halal certificate in Indonesia. BPJPH works in coordination with the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI). As one of the highest authorities on Indonesian Islamic affairs, MUI is in charge of setting up the halal compliance standard and issuing the Halal fatwa. The two major authorities (The Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Assessment Agency (LPPOM) and MUI Fatwa Committee) are responsible for halal assessment, audit, and declaration.
Important Notes on Halal Standard in Indonesia
Meanwhile, the halal standard based on MUI’s Fatwa Indonesia is Sharia Law. There are some specific details that companies need to pay attention to:
• Firstly, Under Sharia Law, a company cannot associate their brand/product
name or insinuate with anything haram.
• Also, MUI prohibit packaging, design, and nature of a product (i.e., sensory characteristics)
that imitate anything haram.
Types of Halal Certificates in Indonesia
Categories that can apply for the Halal Certificate are: Food and Beverages, Drugs, Cosmetics, Slaughterhouses, and Restaurants/ Catering/ Kitchens
Furthermore, both manufacturers and importers/distributors can apply for the Halal certificate. That’s not true if one of the requirements to obtain a Halal Certificate must be your company’s management needs to be Muslims. As long as your company complies with the requirements, the religion of its management team is irrelevant.
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