Through the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH), the government has set a target of 10 million halal certifications by 2024. What is the strategy? What is the role of other halal institutions such as LPPOM MUI?
In 2022, Indonesia’s Muslim population will reach 241.7 million people, or 87% of the total population of 273.52 million people. Therefore, halal products and services spending will reach US$ 281.6 billion by 2025.
Seeing this enormous potential, the government determined that Indonesia must become a significant player in the world’s halal industry. The government has developed various strategies to capture these opportunities to achieve this target. One of them is accelerating halal certification for domestic business actors.
Unmitigated, the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) of the Ministry of Religion, as the primary stakeholder in the halal sector, has set a target of 10 million halal-certified products by 2024. According to the Head of BPJPH, Aqil Irham, this target is an effort to make Indonesia a food producer and the world’s number one halal drink in the same year.
“This year, we target one million free halal certifications. But don’t stop there, because we have to leap so that by 2024 there will be 10 million halal-certified products,” Aqil Irham told several media some time ago.
The target of 10 million halal certificates in 2024 was proclaimed by the Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas in 2022 at the same time as the opening of the 2022 National Working Meeting (Rakernas) of the Ministry of Religion’s Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) which carries the theme “Accelerating the Transformation of Halal Product Assurance Implementation Services.”
The declaration of a target of 10 million halal certificates was marked by the kick-off of the Free Halal Certification (Sehati) program for micro and small business actors (UMK) for 2022. “I appreciate the 10 million halal-certified product program initiated by BPJPH in 2022. Halal certification acceleration for 10 million halal products is an important breakthrough in driving national economic recovery,” said Minister of Religion Yaqut in Jakarta, as reported by the public relations of the Ministry of Religion.
The Minister of Religion hopes that halal certification, carried out massively, will trigger MSEs to get back on their feet after more than two years of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister of Religion acknowledged that the target of 10 million halal-certified products is a giant leap compared to the achievements of halal certification that have existed so far.
“The target of 10 million halal products is not easy to achieve. To achieve this target, extraordinary and collaborative work is needed. We must accelerate the transformation of halal product guarantee services and establish synergy with many parties,” said the Minister of Religion.
Head of BPJPH Aqil Irham said that the initiative for the 10 million halal-certified product program was intended to accelerate the implementation of the halal certification obligation, which started on October 17, 2019. As quoted by Antaranews.com, BPJPH will make six efforts to accelerate the achievement of the target of 10 million halal certificates by 2024. First, training for assistance in the process of halal products. Second, the halal canteen program encourages canteens in all Ministry of Religion work units to become halal certified.
Third, strengthening partnerships with ministries/agencies. Fourth, facilitation of regular halal certification in collaboration with stakeholders. “We have met with 22 ministries/agencies and are committed to preparing a budget for facilitating self-declared and regular certification. This partnership program must also be distributed to all regions,” said Aqil.
Fifth is the mandatory halal campaign. This campaign will be carried out at 1,000 points in 34 provinces. BPJPH will ensure that the obligation of halal certification is socialized in 34 provinces in Indonesia. Meanwhile, in the sixth step, BPJPH will carry out continuous supervision. According to Aqil, this supervision is the key, so the involvement of all stakeholders is needed. “Don’t let the public be exposed to information related to the obligation of halal certification,” he said.
Halal Certificate Program For Free
Aqil Irham explained from 2019 to 2022, 864,014 products were certified halal. This means that an average of nearly 300,000 halal certifications were achieved each year during this period.
One of the efforts to accelerate halal certification is facilitating Free Halal Certification (Sehati). Under the coordination of BPJPH, the government is targeting Micro and Small Enterprises (UMK) actors who meet the self-declared criteria as Sehati targets.
Sehati is a program of collaboration and synergy between the BPJPH Ministry of Religion and ministries/agencies, local governments, agencies, and the private sector. The aim is to facilitate free halal certification financing for Micro and Small Enterprises (UMK) actors who still need to get halal certification. Through this free halal certification, it is hoped that more MSEs will be able to enter the global halal market.
The Sehati program was launched by the Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas in September 2021 in Jakarta. It is hoped that it will become a new spirit to rise from the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minister of Religion also hopes that with halal certification, business actors will fulfill halal and hygienic requirements and increase a positive image about guaranteeing halal products. “The world community recognizes that halal products are synonymous with quality and hygiene so that the growth of halal products continues to increase, and has even become a global lifestyle,” he said, as several media quoted.
To register for the Sehati program, businesses can access the ptsp.halal.go.id page. As published on the kemenag.go.id page, several requirements must be met by business actors to take part in the Sehati program.
Apart from Sehati, another effort made by BPJPH, said Aqil, was preparing a Halal Product Process (PPH) assistant. With Universities and Islamic Religious Organizations, his party continues to train PPH assistants with a target of 100,000 people. The existence of a PPH assistant is essential in supporting the MSE halal certification process with a self-declare scheme.
According to Aqil, 156 PPH Assistance Agencies have been registered, and 174 PPH Assistance Agencies have attended training. BPJPH also noted that currently, there are 710 PPH assistant trainers and 2,210 registered PPH assistants. Also, as many as 497 certified halal auditors will continue to be improved to reach 37 provinces throughout Indonesia.
In addition, various innovations to facilitate halal certification include:
- Online registration.
- System integration with BKPM’s online single submission (OSS).
- Single window national institution.
- BSSN.
- Halal inspection agency.
(***)
