Indonesia – Halal Product Assurance Law No. 33 of 2014

statement by Indonesia to THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
9-10 MARCH 2016

The following communication, dated 21 March 2016, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Indonesia.

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1.  Indonesia would like to thank the US, Turkish and EU delegations for conveying their comments on Indonesia's halal products assurance. Indonesia would like provide responses as follows:

a.    In principle, Law No.33/2014 on Halal Product Assurance is a legal document for halal products proven by halal certificate. The objective is to assure security, safety and certainty of the available halal products for public consumption and utilization. The Law is based on the fact that there are many products distributed and traded in the market cannot be assured of their halalness. The provision of halalness of the products has been conducted according to the principle of international rules such as protection, justice, assurance, accountability, transparency, effectiveness and efficiency.

b.    Concerning the product coverage, Article 4 of the Law states that all products entering, distributed and traded in Indonesia must have a halal certificate. This includes food, beverages, drugs, cosmetics, chemical products, biological products and genetically engineering products in which the elements and process follows the Sharia so as to assure that it is halal to be consumed and utilized. Meanwhile, the mandatory implementation of the halal requirements of those products will be gradually determined.

c.    The Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia is the government institution responsible of the halal provision. In addition, the Ministry of Religious Affairs will establish the BPJPH or The Implementing Agency of Halal Products Assurance who will collaborate with other institutions including the MUI (Indonesian Ulama Councils) to make such necessary arrangements for matters related to halal issues.

d.    Concerning the halal and non halal products, Article 21 of the Law states that the location; place and equipment used for slaughtering processing, storing, packaging, distributing, selling and presenting must be separated between halal and non halal products. In addition, they must be maintained for its cleanness and hygiene, free of najis (defiled) and free of non-halal material at all time. Those provisions are formulated according to the international rules i.e. Codex on General Guidelines for Use of the Term "Halal"CAC/GL 24-1997.

e.    Indonesia is in the process of drafting the halal standard namely RSNI for Halal Management System i.e. RSNI 099001. The standard is developed by a technical committee on halal, involving relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, for the conformity assessment, in 2015, KAN (National Accreditation Body of Indonesia) has stipulated the Halal Accreditation and Certification Scheme.

f.     Regarding transparency, the Ministry of Religion Affairs will develop the Government Regulation on the Implementation of Halal Product Assurance. Upon the completion of the Draft Regulation, it will be notified to the TBT Committee. There will be a transitional period which will be defined in the Draft Regulation.

2.  Last but not least, Quran and Sunnah are the primary indispensable normative references for the standards. Moreover, each country has its own fatwa (ruling based on particular religious school of thought) and fiqh that developed according to what the society believes. Therefore, the use of fatwa and fiqh should be left to each country.

3.  Indonesia welcomes the United States, Turkish and the EU Delegations to continue discussing the issue bilaterally.

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