PEOPLE AWAITING LAW ON 'HALAL' PRODUCTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 3 (Antara) - The Indonesian Muslims who are accounting for 90 percent of  the country's 240 million,  are awaiting the issuance of a law on 'halal' (permitted under the Islamic law) products.          'Halal' products so far are only decided with a certification label by the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI). After all, only 59.01 percent of the  175,157 products in the country already have the 'halal' labels.          The government and the House of Representatives (DPR) have been deliberating a draft law on 'halal' product guarantee  in the past nine years, but the bill has not yet been passed into law.          "We hope the bill will not face a too long problem so that it would be enacted into law quickly,"  Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar said on Monday.          The regulation is now formulated in the Draft Law on Halal Product Guarantee. Unluckily, the bill has now entered its ninth year, yet it was not yet enacted into law.          "I cannot see any vested interest which delays the enactment of the bill on the halal product. In the past period (2009), we had tried to do it   but we finally failed," he explained.

RI CAN SERVE AS WORLD HALAL CERTIFICATION CENTER

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 15 (ANTARA)  - Indonesia, as the world'a largest Muslim country with a population of about 237.6 million, can serve as a world certification center for halal goods  in line with the increasing popularity of halal  products among both Muslim and non-Muslim consumers.          "Indonesia can become (a world center) because we have universities such as the Bogor-based Agriculture Institute (IPB) which have centers for halal (consumable under Islamic law) goods. Indonesia also has many experts in this field," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said over the weekend.          According Lukmanul Hakim, Head of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI)'s Food, Drug and Cosmetics Research Institute (LPPOM),  at least 41 foreign food certification agencies have set their halal food standards based on inputs from  the LPPOM.          Among the 41 agencies were those of a number of ASEAN member countries, Canada, England, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, Japan and the US, Lukmanul Hakim said recently.          "We try to make Indonesian halal certification applicable internationally. Our concept has been submitted to a World Halal Council (WHC) meeting and received a positive response," said Lumanul who is also the WHC's secretary general at a workshop to mark LPPOM-MUI's 22nd anniversary.          Thus, Indonesia can become a world certification center for halal products because non-Muslim consumers have also begun to like halal  goods, Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said.          At present, 20 percent of the world's food products have been included as halal goods while in the national scale demand for halal goods continues to increase from year to year, from 72 percent in 2009 to 92 percent in 2010.          "We have to be serious to transform Indonesia as the world center for halal products, both as center for halal certification and as halal products. The government is providing its support for the  MUI and LPPOM," said Hatta.          He said that halal certification could also create assurances in the world that halal products had better quality.  Hatta who visited a Halal Business and Food Expo said that Indonesia as the world's predominantly Muslim country could serve as the world's halal certification center.          "One should not forget that halal goods are liked not only by Muslims but also by non-Muslims," the minister added.  Halal labels would help consumers make correct choices of various good quality products such as food, drink and cosmetics and avoid doubted products.           "Standards of excellence of halal goods must be in uniform. Standards should not vary which could be questioned by consumers," the minister said.          Yet, Lukmanul Hakim expressed concern because the number of goods that had been certified in Indonesia was still small. Certified goods only account for 36.73 percent of the 113,515 registered goods, or only about 41,695 food, medicines and cosmetics products circulating in Indonesia have been certified.          Lukmanul Hakim said Indonesia might need to change the voluntary principle to Mandatory one in the process of certifying products in the country. This one of the effort that could be made to increase the number of certified goods with halal labels in the country.          After all, he said, the demand for halal goods in the country had increased significantly to 92.2 percent.          "So, the figure of goods already certified is still small. The 36.73 percent can become smaller if the 2.5 million household industrial products are taken into account,"  Lukmanul Hakim.          Meanwhile, MUI chairman Ma'ruf Amin said almost all food certification agencies in the world had adopted the practice or seeking LPPOM-MUI's endorsement of the halal status of food or beverage products intended for export to Islamic countries.          Ma'ruf said MUI halal standards did not allow the presence of ingredients that were haram (forbidden) in food or beverage products , for example, pig body parts in gelatin, salts and other things, he said.          "German institutions did not use the halal concept before, where salt pork is used to be considered as halal to be put in any food. But since they want to be approved by Indonesia, so they follow the standard of halal from MUI," he explained.          A number of foreign halal experts had learned about halal food in Indonesia thus showing that LPPOM MUI had gone international, he said.          Lukamanul Hakim said Indonesia as a country with a large number of Muslims was a potential market for food and cosmetic products. Therefore, halal certification was needed to protect Muslim consumers. Certification would also strengthen national products in facing the free trade era.          Lukmanul said Indonesia was among the first countries in the world that had made a basic halal security system. He said so far Indonesia's halal standards, set by LPPOM MUI, had been acknowledged by 43 foreign institutions in 22 countries, including the US, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and the Netherlands.          In order to promote certified and halal goods, the Cosmetic and Food Research Division of the Indonesian Ulema Council (LPPOM MUI)  held  a Halal Business and Food Expo here over the weekend.          "The exhibition is designed to increase awareness among Indonesian Muslims about the importance of halal food certification," Director of LPPOM MUI Lukmanul Hakim said.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/01:05/A014) 16-08-2011 01:07:1

"HALAL" LABELS EXPECTED TO HAMPER FLOOD OF FOREIGN GOODS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 24 (ANTARA)  - Foreign goods may find it difficult to compete with local products in the country, albeit in the free trade era, if the requirement to attach 'halal' (edible or allowed based on Islamic law) is imposed on consumer goods at home,  a chief ulema says.          The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Amidhan Saberah said that the halal label would benefit domestic products, businesses and the country as a whole.          After all,  in Indonesia as a predominantly Muslim country, consumers have continued to demand for 'halal' products. Thus, local goods with halal labels will increase added values, benefit local industry and reduce the flood of foreign products in the free trade area.          Unluckily however, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) estimates that less than 50 percent of products in the country have been certified as halal. Therefore, MUI is launching a promotion  on the need to provide halal certification for products at home and asks the government as well as the House of Representatives (DPR) to deliberate and enact a bill on halal products.          "This is still very low. Ideally it must be 100 percent or at least as high as the number of Muslims in Indonesia, namely 90 percent," the vice director of secretarial affairs and familiarization of the MUI's Institute of Cosmetics, Drug and Food Assessment (LPPOM), Osmena Gunawan, said in a talk show at the International Halal Business and Food Expo.          Osmean Gunawan said by putting halal label on products people would feel certain that the products they would consume are halal, thus also increasing the added value of the products.           The director of beverage and tobacco industry of the ministry of industry, Warsono, meanwhile appealed on the occasion  to industries to put halal label on their products as it will give an added value to the products especially in Indonesia.  "The halal label will increase the competitive power of the products not only at home but also abroad," he said.          Malaysia for example has also put halal labels on their products for its consumers. So, if Indonesia wants to win a market share in that country it has to certify its goods as halal.          Vice President Boediono also voiced the need for the country to attach halal labels on its products.  "Therefore, Indonesia as the largest Muslim country in the world should play an active role as a potential market for various products and services with halal labels," the vice president said.          He said the products and services of a country to be sold in international markets were no longer restricted by tight import duties or taxes but by their international halal certification standards.          "What a pity it would be if Indonesian products and services fail to enter other countries' markets just because of their failure to meet halal standards," the vice president said.           Therefore,  the MUI called on the DPR and the government to speed up their deliberations on  the bill on 'halal' products and pass it into law soon. "Having such a law in our country is a must because we are the biggest Muslim country in the world," MUI chairman Amidhan Saberah said after attending a talk show at the International Halal Business and Food Expo at the Jakarta Convention Center on Saturday.           He said  performing a halal deed was part of the religious obligations of a Muslim. In this case, the government should protect the Muslim community from the consumption or use of non-halal goods and services.         The enactment of a law  on halal products would also benefit producers at home because it would reduce the flood of foreign goods in domestic markets. "If we use tax or import duty restrictions we  will not be able to curb  the influx of foreign goods into the country. But the flow can be restricted  with the halal certification requirement," the MUI chairman said.         He said that Malaysia, for example, required Indonesian products to have halal certificates if they were to be marketed there.  But Indonesia whose Muslim population reaches 200 million has not yet adopted a regulation which requires such certificates.         As most Indonesian consumers are Muslims, the attachment of a 'halal'  label on food packages will be advantageous to producers. "Demand for 'halal' certificates for food products is to  increase  and producers are also increasingly aware of the importance of attaching halal labels to their products," Head of the Auditing Section of MUI's Food, Medicine and Cosmetics Assessment Institute (LPPOM MUI), Muti Arintawati said.          She said that Indonesia was a potential market for 'halal' products so that businessmen must be able to take advantage of this potential. Moreover,  still quite many number of products produced at home that should be certified as halal.          Meat is among the commodities which still have to be imported.  "Indonesia is a potential market for halal meat because domestic meat production falls far short of national  needs," Executive Director of the Indonesian Meat Importers Association (ASPIDI) Thomas Sembiring said.          Thomas said that several countries had obtained accreditation from the  MUI for halal meat export to Indonesia. Countries which had obtained MUI accreditation were Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Ireland.          He said that about 100 thousand tons of meat were exported to Indonesia in 2009, which was an increase if compared with that in the previous year which stood at 90,000.          According to  MUI Chairman Amidhan, Indonesia already has stationed halal certification personnel in a number of countries such as Japan, Australia, Canada, and  some European countries.          "Thus all products and commodities from those countries are safe for consumption because they have gone through tight examination procedures and quarantines before entering the domestic market," Amidhan said.***2*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/22:13/H-YH) 24-07-2010 22:44:3