JAKARTA - The government has confirmed that products originating from the United States that enter Indonesia must still undergo halal certification, even though the certification mechanism can be carried out in the producer country through a mutual recognition agreement (MRA).
Head of the Standardization and Industrial Services Policy Agency (BSKJI) of the Ministry of Industry, Emmy Suryandari, said that halal certification from foreign halal institutions (LHLN) in the US can be recognized in Indonesia, as long as the institution has been registered with the Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency (BPJPH).
"Products from America must still be halal. Certification can be done in the country of origin, then registered in Indonesia," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, February 24.
On the same occasion, the Head of the Halal Industry Center of the Ministry of Industry, Kris Sasono, explained that there are currently five LHLN in the US that are recognized by BPJPH.
He said that with the MRA, products that have halal certification in their country of origin do not need to repeat the full certification process in Indonesia, but only through registration.
"They use the halal logo but their LHLN. Later here there is also our halal logo. That's what has happened until today," said Kris.
Kris explained that supervision was still carried out periodically because the MRA had a limited validity period, between two to four years.
He explained that Indonesia has established an MRA with around 38 countries, involving 102 foreign halal institutions. He gave an example that in the United States there are five halal institutions recognized by BPJPH, while in China there are eight, and in Australia there are as many as 13 institutions.
In the Indonesia-US trade agreement, the Indonesian government is committed to addressing various non-tariff barriers, such as exempting US companies and goods from local content requirements, accepting US motor vehicle safety and emissions standards, accepting FDA standards for medical devices and pharmaceuticals, removing burdensome certification and labeling requirements, eliminating pre-shipment requirements.
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