After 33 years of running in the world of halal certification, LPPOM MUI continues to strive to show the best performance in customer service. This, none other than LPPOM MUI," is an effort to support the government's vision in realizing Indonesia as the world's halal center.
Indonesia has a long and interesting history of halal certification. In 1988, the issue of lard broke out in Indonesia. This is what prompted the government to give a mandate to the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to play an active role in defusing the case. On January 6, 1989, the Institute for the Study of Food, Medicines, and Cosmetics of the Indonesian Ulema Council (LPPOM MUI) was formed.
Legally, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Health and MUI signed a Memorandum of Agreement on Cooperation in 1996 to strengthen the position of LPPOM MUI carrying out the function of halal certification. This was followed by the issuance of The Minister of Religious Affairs Decree (KMA) 518 of 2001 and KMA 519 of 2001, which strengthened the MUI as a halal certification body and carried out inspections/audits, determined fatwas, and issued halal certificates.
Transformation, Voluntary Into Mandatory
Since the beginning of the emergence of halal certification in Indonesia, business actors have voluntarily (voluntary) carried out halal certification. This means that only business actors who want and feel the benefits of a halal certificate will apply for halal certification for their products. Although voluntary, various food, beverage and cosmetics manufacturers at the national and global levels are enthusiastic about registering their products. Unfortunately, there is still public dissatisfaction because there are still many favorite products of the public but have not received halal certificates.
This institution also actively provides input on the draft law that regulates the issue of halal certification with the DPR and the government. The government then enacted Law Number 33 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Guarantee (JPH Law) in October 2014. Since the issuance of the regulation, halal certification is mandatory.
Manufacturers who do not want to carry out halal certification of their products must firmly declare their products not certified. Of course this is an oasis for Indonesian Muslims. The presence of this regulation will encourage clarity on the status of products circulating in Indonesia. Regarding the implementation of the law,
LPPOM MUI data between 2015 and November 2021 shows that 18,734 companies have carried out halal certification. This is a pretty fantastic amount. There are a total of 43,665 halal certificates with 1,288,555 products registered. Unfortunately, this figure is still far from the number of products circulating in Indonesia today.
Advantages of Halal Certificates
Not only helping marketing in the domestic market, the existence of halal certificates increases the acceptance of local products in the export market, which is further able to support the addition of labor and foreign exchange of the country. Uniquely, halal certificates help with marketing in countries with a majority of non-Muslim populations. One of the reasons is because of the assumption that halal products have advantages in terms of quality. This potential is not widely understood by business actors, including related to accusations of Islamization through halal certification.
Regarding reputation, LPPOM MUI is supported by the SNI ISO / IEC 17065: 2012 Accreditation Certificate for Halal Certification Bodies from the National Accreditation Committee (KAN). Not only that, this halal inspection agency has ISO17025 as an international standard testing laboratory and ISO9001 as an institution with international quality.
LPPOM MUI is also recognized and registered in more than 40 halal certification bodies spread across five continents, as well as various foreign governments. This is what increases market access for halal products to Middle Eastern and global countries. The reputation carried by LPPOM MUI also supports the government's intention to make Indonesia the center of the world's halal industry.
For 33 years in the world of halal certification, LPPOM MUI continues to develop better by carrying out the value of IHSAN (Integrity, Reliability, Synergy, Enthusiastic innovation, and Customer Unite Number). This reputation was maintained even though many oblique issues were exhaled repeatedly by parties who were unhappy with the growth of professional and international quality Islamic institutions in Indonesia.
This institution continues to make various innovations so that Indonesian halal products are able to advance to penetrate the export market, such as launching an online halal certification system (CEROL-SS23000) to ensure the security of customer data while making it easier for customers to access the halal certification process. All of this, none other than LPPOM MUI's efforts to support the government's vision in realizing Indonesia as the world's halal center. (RR, YN)
