Halal happenings: Indonesia’s new halal certification system for international companies expected to boost food and beverage trade
The Foreign Halal Certification Registration (RSHLN) system has been launched within the national Halal Information System (Sihalal) for use by all foreign companies exporting to Indonesia that already have halal certification by their authorised local certification bodies.
“The RSHLN is definitely going to bring a great deal of convenience to halal industrial activities and trade, covering important sectors such as food [and beverage], where these products have already been certified halal by our Overseas Halal Institutions,” Halal Product Assurance Organizing Body (BPJPH) Head Muhammad Aqil Irham said via a formal statement.
“These Overseas Halal Institutions must already have completed Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) with BPJPH, and products with certified halal by these institutions will no longer need to go through the local certification process, but only need to register using this RSHLN system [which will] improve the speed of the processing and trade.
“That said, their halal certificates much be registered with BPJPH via this system before their products can be distributed in Indonesia – this includes all forms of products from food ingredients to slaughtered meat.”
As of July 2024, BPJPH has acknowledged 37 different certification bodies as Overseas Halal Institutions, ranging across 16 countries: China, Pakistan, United States, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand, India, Canada, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan and Thailand.
Each institution has identified competency scopes including food, beverages, slaughtering services, drugs, cosmetics and more, with more details available at the BPJPH website here.
All 37 have certified competency for food products, 34 for beverage products and 28 for slaughtering services, indicating the food sector as one of the most in-demand for halal certification.
“In cases where the imported products are not recognised as halal in Indonesia [because] their local certification authority is not recognised by BPJPH, we will carry out the regular halal certification process for these in accordance with the applicable regulations,” he added.
“In order to ensure that the registrations proceed smoothly, new applications should be submitted via importers or official representatives in Indonesia and the applicants should ensure that all required documents are in English.
“Necessary documentation includes the application letter, a letter of appointment from the country of origin, the business license number of the Indonesian importer/representative, a copy of the foreign halal certificate signed by an authorised official, the list of products to be imported with the HS code number, and a statement that all the documents are correct and valid.
“If these documents are in a language other than English, the application must also include English translations of these which have been translated by a legal sworn translator.”
Prep work completed
The local Indonesian government has often faced complaints about a lack of speed or efficiency when it comes to implementing new systems, but BPJPH is hopeful that this will not be the same case for the RSHLN given the strong trade implications.
“BPJPH has conducted a series of several stages of preparatory work, including detailed coordination between the relevant ministries and institutions as well as the data integration and implementation into Sihalal,” he added.
“A public testing of the RSHLN system has also been conducted with representatives from the local Importers Association over seven days, and we have also prepared the necessary technical instructions for document verification.”
The new system can be accessed via the Sihalal platform here with immediate effect.
