Indonesia-Iran Establish Halal Product Guarantee Cooperation

The signing of the Halal Product Guarantee Cooperation (JPH) between the Indonesian Government and Iran. (ANTARA/HO-Kemenag)

JAKARTA - The Government of Indonesia and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran have collaborated on Halal Product Guarantee (JPH) which was marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries.

The signing of the MoU was carried out by Deputy Minister of Religion Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahdi Safari.

"On behalf of the Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia, I welcome the signing of the MoU for Halal Product Guarantee Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Deputy Minister of Religion Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, May 23.

The signing of the MoU is part of a series of official visits by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, received by President Joko Widodo at the Bogor Palace.

The Deputy Minister of Religion said the Ministry of Religion supports strengthening cooperation in halal products at the global level. This is because Indonesia has the aspiration to become the center of the number one halal product producer in the world.

To realize these ideals, said Zainut, cooperation and synergy of product guarantees are needed among all policy makers at the global level.

"We hope that this MoU can strengthen the synergy in question so that Indonesia and Iran can become important players in the global industry and market of halal products," he said.

Zainut hopes that the cooperation of these halal products can increase trade transactions for halal products so as to provide economic benefits and strengthen welfare for the two countries.

Head of BPJPH Muhammad Aqil Irham said this signing made Iran the sixth country to have signed an MoU on guarantees for halal products with Indonesia.

Previously there were five countries that had MoU with Indonesia. Namely, Chile, Argentina, Hungary, Belarus, and Turkey.

"Furthermore, we will immediately follow up the MoU G-to-G with the discussion of the Mutual Recognition Agreement or MRA between BPJPH and the Halal Institutions in Iran. So that there is mutual acceptance of BPJPH halal certificates and halal institutions in Iran," said Aqil.