Halal certification to raise US$1.6 billionin revenue, says official

Buyers and sellers interact at theInternational Halal Travel Fair at the Islamic Center NTB Ballroom in Mataram,West Nusa Tenggara, in this Sept. 15, 2017 file photo. (JP/Panca Nugraha)

The government expects to raise Rp 22.5trillion (US$1.6 billion) in revenue from the halal certification law, whichbecomes effective this year, an official has said.

Law No. 30/2014 requires producers toobtain halal certification beginning Oct. 17, 2019 for a variety of products,particularly food and beverages and medicines. The certification is to beimplemented in stages, says Halal Certification Agency (BPJPH) head Sukoso.

“Halal certification for food and beverageproducts will be implemented over the five years from 2019 to 2024, while [thecertification] for drugs will be implemented over the seven years from  2019 to 2026,” he said on Monday in Jakartaas quoted by kontan.co.id.

The estimated state revenue of Rp 22.5trillion was calculated according to the number of small and medium enterprises(SMEs) and large companies operating in the country.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) records show58.97 million SMEs operating in the country.

Sukoso said the BPJPH aimed to issue100,000 halal certificates and recruiting up to 5,000 halal certificationauditors by 2020.

The agency and related ministries hadprepared a draft government regulation to support Law No. 30/2014, he said, andthat all relevant ministers had signed the draft regulation, which was also toserve as the legal basis for the agency's operations.

After a meeting on halal certification lastweek, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said that all relevantministers had expressed their support for the draft halal regulation.

Lukman said that the draft governmentregulation maintained the Indonesian Ulemas Council’s (MUI) three functions ofissuing fatwas, approving auditors and authorizing halal inspection institutes(LPH). (bbn)