Mandatory Halal October 2024, BPJPH: 41 Countries Queue To Enter Indonesia

Head of the Halal Product Guarantee Agency (BPJPH) Muhammad Aqil Irham. (Mery Handayani / VOI)

JAKARTA - The government will impose a mandatory halal certification rule for products that enter, circulate and are traded in Indonesian territory in October 2024.

The obligation to be certified halal is in accordance with Government Regulation Number 39 of 2021 concerning the Implementation of the Halal Product Guarantee Sector. Where it is regulated by the first implementation, the obligation for halal certificates will end on October 17, 2024.

Then what about imported products?

Regarding the implementation of this halal obligation, the Head of the Halal Product Guarantee Administration (BPJPH) Muhammad Aqil Irham revealed that 41 countries have asked for cooperation so that halal certification is recognized in Indonesia.

The certification, continued Aqil, is a requirement that must be met to obtain entry permits to Indonesia.

"There are 41 countries that want to cooperate with BPJPH and halal halal certificate products there are recognized to enter Indonesia in October 2024," he said when met at Gama Tower, Jakarta, Wednesday, April 3.

Aqil said countries that have proposed to cooperate include China, Japan, Korea, India, Pakistan, America, and Brazil.

For example, said Aqil, Australia, which proposes cooperation so that its certification of beef can also be recognized by Indonesia. As is known, Australia is one of the main countries that imports beef for Indonesia.

"Daging from Australia, New Zealand, right, we have 650,000 tons of meat deficits, now they have (proposed to cooperate). From Japan (proposing for) raw materials for food and drinks," he said.

Aqil said that halal certification must not only be carried out for finished food products, but also for raw materials.

"Some are finished, some are raw materials. But the raw materials are important, otherwise the raw materials cannot be produced domestically. That's why it must be halal too," he said.