Indonesia Postpones Mandatory Halal Certification for F&B Products from MSEs

During an internal meeting held on May 15, 2024, the Indonesian government decided to postpone the mandatory halal certification requirement for food and beverage products from micro and small enterprises (MSEs) from October 17, 2024 to 2026. Additionally, based on mutual recognition agreements, the halal certification obligation for imported products will also be shifted to 2026. However, the halal certification requirement will remain in effect as per the original schedule for medium and large business products.

The reason cited for this policy delay is that the target number of halal certifications has not yet been reached, and a significant number of MSEs products have not been certified. From 2019 to May 15, 2024, the Halal Product Guarantee Organizing Agency (BPJPH) has issued halal certificates for 4,418,343 products, which is only 44.18% of the 10 million target. Given the estimated 28 million MSEs in Indonesia, achieving the certification goal has proven to be a significant challenge.