Head Of BPJPH Calls Halal Certification Protect Domestic UMK Products

JAKARTA - Head of the Halal Product Guarantee Administration Agency (BPJPH) Ahmad Haikal Hasan emphasized that his party is committed to making halal certification a protection for micro and small business actors (UMK) from the invasion of foreign products, especially food and beverage products.

"Through halal certification, BPJPH is here and committed to protecting our micro and small business actors and their products from intense competition with foreign products that flood our country," said Head of BPJPH Ahmad Haikal Hasan as reported by ANTARA, Friday, November 22.

The man who is familiarly called Babe Haikal said that foreign products, especially food and beverages, are currently produced and sold at low prices, quality, and even have obtained halal certificates from his home country.

"Local products produced by our UMK players must be certified halal, so that they have added value and are more competitive in the market. The halal certificate is so that our products are competitive with foreign products that have been certified halal managed by (institutional) halal abroad," he said.

Strengthening the UMK, he said, needs to be done to increase the capacity and added value of products through halal standards, so that UMK products survive and even develop and expand their marketing reach to exports or at least be able to meet the needs of domestic halal products.

"If we have an UMK (but) it is not provided, it is not assisted to obtain halal certificates from all parties, then what happens is that people (consumers) will choose halal goods (products) from abroad," he said.

Looking at the data on Silal, so far there are 5,575,021 products that have obtained BPJPH halal certificates. The number of halal products is produced by 1,547,271 business actors who have obtained halal certificates.

The number of business actors who have obtained the halal certificate consists of 4,733 large business actors, 1,234 medium-sized business actors, and 44,625 small business actors, and 1,496,679 micro-enterprises.

Thus, there are still many micro and small business actors who have not been certified halal, for that, assistance and facilitation of halal certification are needed for UMK players in an adequate and equitable amount throughout Indonesia.