Food and beverage in Indonesia must be halal in October 2024. It is a challenge for all parties related to the low number of slaughterhouses (RPH) and poultry slaughterhouses (RPU) capable of supplying halal meat. To overcome this, LPPOM MUI held a Syawal Festival activity titled “Jaminan Halal Dimulai dari Hulu (Halal Assurance Starts from Upstream).” The event was held as a form of LPPOM MUI’s concern for halal products circulating in Indonesia, starting from the initial source of the halal production chain, which is meat cutting.
The chairman of the MPR RI, Bambang Soesatyo, expressed his appreciation to LPPOM MUI which has dedicated itself for 34 years to certifying halal products circulating in Indonesia. “I appreciate the Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics Indonesian Council of Ulama or LPPOM MUI for the 1444 H Syawal festival initiative with the theme “Halal Guarantee Starts from Upstream,” which took place on 6-31 May 2003. I always encourage the importance of halal certification products and slaughterhouses to have a Veterinary Control Number (NKV) certified. And this will be part of our roles and responsibilities.
“I appreciate LPPOM MUI, which always assists MSMEs and the wider community who use halal products in Indonesia. Hopefully, LPPOM MUI will always be at the forefront of integrity, innovation, and synergy in the national and international halal industry. LPPOM MUI will always be successful and victorious,” said Bambang in his speech.
Meanwhile, the President Director of LPPOM MUI, Muti Arintawati, revealed, “The big challenge in halal certification is related to the supply of animal-derived raw materials. KNEKS research with the Halal Science Center IPB University in 2021 shows that 85% of RPH do not yet have a halal certificate. Of course, this can be a big challenge for Indonesia, which aspires to certify 10 million halal products.”
“Alhamdulillah, the 1444H LPPOM MUI Shawwal Festival was attended by 2,282 Technical Guidance participants and 30 certified Slaughterhouses. Four (4) RPHs will be handed the Halal Certificate today at the Rawa Terate RPH, East Jakarta. The hope is that this activity will trigger halal meat supply and awareness of halal certification for RPH/RPU throughout Indonesia,” concluded Muti.
Bank Indonesia, represented by the Deputy Director, Department of Economics and Sharia Finance of Bank Indonesia, M. Irfan Sukarna, expressed Bank Indonesia’s concern for the implementation of halal certification. Until now, there have been many business actors, especially MSMEs, whose halal certification financing was assisted by Bank Indonesia.
On the same occasion, the Head of the Halal Registration and Certification Center (BPJPH), Dzikro, said, “As many as 30 million business products require halal certification. But until now, only around 725,000 products have been certified halal, and 405,000 of them come from the MSME sector. Compared with the country’s total MSMEs, which reached 64.2 million, this number is still minimal. So, synergy from various parties is needed to encourage access to halal certification.”
Handing over the Halal Certificate to the representative of this business actor will trigger a wave of other business actors to jointly certify their business so that it becomes a halal product or purchase to be enjoyed and blessed. Dzikro ended his speech.
In addition, the Head of the PPKUKM Service, Suharini Eliawati, expressed her gratitude for choosing RPHU Rawa Terate as the venue for the closing of this festival. “The selection of 4 Rawa Teratai RPHU Business Actors certainly motivates all parties so that all business actors, both at Rawa Terate RPHU and other RPHs, immediately carry out their halal certification.”
LPPOM MUI has held the Syawal Festival program for the last three years to support government programs related to accelerating halal certification. In 2021 and 2022, LPPOM MUI will focus on encouraging MSMEs with superior regional products. Meanwhile, this year, the focus is on the supply of materials from upstream, namely RPH.
“The choice of slaughterhouses as the target for this year’s Syawal Festival is because we see that halal upstream determines the success of downstream halal products. We hope that the Syawal Festival can encourage the achievement of halal certification for food and beverage producers by providing halal raw materials. Thus, the mandatory halal target set by the government in 2024 can be achieved,” said Muti closing the 1444 H Syawal Festival.
