Packaging is one of the products that must be halal certified (halal certificate) based on Act No. 33 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Assurance Act (UU JPH). This is because the packaging includes the category of consumer goods, which must be halal-certified by 17 October 2026. Besides, there is contact between the packaging and the product. Therefore, packaging manufacturers must pay attention to this. PT Amcor Flexible Indonesia is a packaging producer that is halal certified.
In the seminar “Readiness of the Packaging Industry to Face Compulsory Halal 2024” which was held on 10 November 2023 in Hall D2, JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, Quality Manager of PT Amcor Flexible Indonesia, Elisabeth Erika acknowledged the importance of halal certification for packaging products—not just complying with applicable regulations. In addition, halal certificates can provide added value to a product so that companies can compete in the market.
“The halal certificate can be a weapon and capital for our sales team. They are more confident when approaching potential customers, especially in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical segments. This is also a provision for us to maintain existing customers,” said Erika.
PT Amcor Flexible Indonesia, with various packaging products, successfully obtained halal certificates in December 2021. A series of processes, requirements and procedures must be fulfilled to achieve halal certification. First, companies must register and submit certificates to BPJPH and LPPOM MUI as the chosen Halal Inspection Body (LPH). After that, the company must form a Halal Management Team, which is inaugurated by central management. Training and outreach to the Halal Team and all employees are also needed to achieve standardization of knowledge regarding implementing the Halal Product Assurance System (SJPH).
Next, the company needs to prepare various documents explaining the flow of the production process so that everything can be traced and halal assurance and uploaded to the online system owned by LPPOM MUI, namely CEROL-SS23000. After all documents are met, an audit is carried out. If there are findings during the audit, the company will be given time to resolve the existing findings. The audit report results are then discussed at the Fatwa Commission meeting to determine the status of product use. A Halal Determination certificate will be issued if the product is declared halal. This certificate will be the basis for BPJPH to issue a halal certificate.
There are three tips that PT Amcor Flexible Indonesia implements during the halal certification process. First, the party received assistance from the Halal Partner from LPPOM MUI to ask questions regarding the certification steps, which were free of charge. Second, there is commitment, participation, and concern from top management and all employees in the certification process (good teamwork). Third, there is good cooperation from suppliers when asked to complete supporting documents in preparing the material matrix and product matrix.
The seminar with the theme “Readiness of the Packaging Industry to Face Compulsory Halal 2024” is a collaboration between the Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics Indonesian Council of Ulama (LPPOM MUI) and the Indonesia Packaging Federation (IPF). The 200 seats available were filled with enthusiastic participants discussing halal certification. Apart from seminars, LPPOM MUI also served as a booth and a forum for packaging companies who wanted to consult regarding halal certification of their products. (YN)
