Coordinating Minister For SMEs Teten Masduki: Halal Certification Aims To Protect Muslims

Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (MenKopUKM) Teten Masduki revealed the purpose of halal certification to protect Muslims both as consumers and MSME actors.

"The purpose of halal certification itself is to protect Muslims, not only from the consumer side but also from the producer side," said Teten in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Monday, April 1.

He said the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs would discuss with various parties including the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) and the Ministry of Religion's Halal Product Guarantee Administration Agency (BPJPH), because according to the calculation of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, halal certification if implemented in October 2024 would not be achieved even though the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs would continue to strive so that this could be achieved.

"Therefore, I propose an acceleration, namely MSMEs that can be categorized as green routes, for example, products and raw materials are halal so that MSME actors can carry out self-declare," he said.

Thus, there is no longer any need to use long procedures, so this also makes it easier for Muslim MSME actors who sell halal products.

According to Teten, small MSME players move the most in the culinary sector, so they don't make it difficult.

"So we dare to do self-declare because the raw materials have received halal certification, then products are made so that the green lane should be given," he said.

Most MSME actors are engaged in the culinary field, if this is done the possibility of implementing halal certification in October this year can be achieved.

It's just a matter of time for MSME products for skincare, cosmetics, herbs and other products to follow because there are not too many MSME players engaged in this field.

Teten mengatakan bahwa yang paling terkendala terkait dengan certifikasi halal ini nantinya merupakan para pelaku UMKM kuliner, kalau tidak maka perlu diperpanjang masa berlakunya supaya nanti tidak terjadi pelanggaran hukum oleh pelaku UMKM.

"Maybe we should return to this good goal of halal certification to protect Muslims from consuming illegal products. But on the other hand, the majority of business actors are Muslim," he said.

Head of the Center for Halal Registration and Certification of the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) RI Siti Aminah explained that food and beverage products from all business actors, including MSMEs, must include a halal certificate before October 18, 2024.

Mandatory certification or halal certificates are regulated in Law Number 33 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Guarantee as amended by Law no. 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation. This is also regulated in Government Regulation Number 39 of 2021 concerning the Implementation of the Halal Product Guarantee Sector.

MSMEs or Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, including street vendors, must have a halal certificate on their products, no later than October 17, 2024 or before October 18, 2024.

Therefore, the government through the BPJPH of the Indonesian Ministry of Religion and relevant stakeholders will facilitate MSMEs in obtaining halal certification for free, with applicable terms and conditions that can be seen on their official website pages.