"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