Legality of Halal Certification for Imported Food and Beverage Products

Abstract

Imported food and beverage products entering Indonesia are mandatorily required to comply with halal certification provisions in accordance with prevailing laws and regulations. This is important considering that Indonesia is a country with a Muslim majority population who need assurance regarding the halal status of the products they consume. The method used is normative-juridical with a statutory and analytical approach, utilizing secondary data sources that are analyzed descriptively-qualitatively. The research results indicate that foreign halal certificates are not automatically recognized; recognition is only valid if the foreign halal body has established a mutual recognition cooperation with the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH). Business actors are obliged to register the certificate with BPJPH to obtain a Registration ID Number and to affix the national halal label before the product can be legally distributed. However, implementation in the field has not been effective. Although many products have followed the procedures, there are still imported products found circulating without official BPJPH registration and violating the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), which suggests a lack of transparency from business actors in the certification process.