Reported from wapresri.go.id, The Vice President of Republic Indonesia, Ma’ruf Amin accepted the board of Halal Inspection Body (LPH), The Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics of Indonesian Council of Ulama (LPPOM MUI), and The National Accreditation Committee (KAN) at the Vice President’s Official Residence, Jalan Diponegoro Number 2, Central Jakarta, on May 20, 2021.
LPPOM MUI is the first Halal Inspection Body (LPH) established by the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH). In addition, LPPOM MUI is the first Halal Certification Body (LSH) that has been accredited with SNI ISO / IEC 17065: 2012 from the National Accreditation Committee (KAN), and has been recognized by an overseas halal certification body, the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) on UAE standard 2055: 2-2016.
During the meeting, the Executive Director of LPPOM MUI, Muti Arintawati, revealed that even in the pandemic condition of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the demand for halal certification for products and companies continues to increase.
“We have data from 2018 to May 2021, here we can see that the number of halal-certified products at the Central MUI, in 2020 with pandemic conditions, it turns out that the numbers are still rising, alhamdulillah” said Muti.
Muti also said that as of May 1, 2021, the number of certified halal products had reached 1,066 companies or half of the 2020 cumulative total. He also concluded that if in 2021 the increase was the same as in 2020, then the number of certified halal products would be more than the previous year.
“There are still a lot of initiatives to register for halal product certification,” said Muti.
Responding to this, the Vice President welcomed the development of halal certification carried out by LPH LPPOM MUI. In addition, many halal certification bodies from other countries have asked for recognition from Indonesia. However, until now, said the Vice President, Indonesia was not yet the largest halal producing country in the world, but only a consumer.
“There are lots of halal certificate institutions (from other countries) asking for recognition, and endorsement from Indonesia, but we are not yet the world’s largest halal producer. This is what we want to improve,” said the Vice President.
Due to such reasons, the Vice President said that the government commits to developing this halal industry, one of which is by providing stimulants to the Halal Industrial Zone (KIH) that is the equal program facilities obtained by Special Economic Zones (KEK).
The Vice President also said that to support the development of KIH, the government has provided a program, namely One-Stop Service (One Stop Service) which provides convenience in the process of halal certification, capital, and other facilities.
“Not only a halal certification, capital, and other facilities are also facilitated so that the halal industry grows. One of them is for certification to be served under one integrated agency so that Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) and the Halal Inspection Body (LPH) must cooperate,” explained the Vice President.
Muti stated LPPOM MUI’s support for the program. So far, LPPOM MUI has made various efforts to support an effective and efficient halal certification process, such as having the online halal certification application CEROL-SS23000 and its live chat feature, support for LPPOM MUI halal laboratories that have been accredited with SNI ISO / IEC 17025: 2017, Teleconference video discussion for loyal customers of LPPOM MUI.
“Another thing that we also implement is the Modified Onsite Audit (MOSA), this is proof that LPPOM MUI can adapt to any situation,” explained Muti.
Modified On-site Audit (MOSA) is an online audit process that is modified in such a way by checking the conformity of HAS implementation in a company with HAS 23000 Standards.
Meanwhile, the Deputy for Accreditation of the National Standardization Body (BSN) who is also the Secretary of KAN Donny Purnomo reported that BSN and KAN are actively working with BPJPH to compile requirements for accreditation and certification of halal products.
It is hoped that these requirements can be completed in a shorter time so that the Government Regulation as a derivative of the Law on certificates related to halal products can also be passed properly. “We are working with LPPOM MUI and BPJPH. We will consider the existing requirements which can be a part of accelerating regulatory compliance,” said Donny.
Apart from the Deputy of Accreditation of BSN and the Executive Director of LPPOM MUI, on that occasion the Director of System and Harmonization of BSN Accreditation Sugeng Raharjo, Director of Finance of LPPOM MUI Misbahul Ulum, and Director of Operations of LPPOM MUI Sumunar Jati also attended.
Meanwhile, the Vice President was accompanied by the Head of the Secretariat of the Vice President Mohamad Oemar, as well as the Special Staff of the Vice President Masduki Baidlowi, Lukmanul Hakim, and Bambang Widianto.
