Jakarta. Indonesia has beefed up sanctions for halal assurance violations as the mandatory certification to differentiate Sharia-compliant products nears.

Indonesia’s mandatory halal labeling will take effect for goods from enterprises of all sizes on Oct. 18. The country’s halal assurance body, BPJPH, has also rolled out regulations detailing the punishments for violations.

“We need to back our monitoring of [halal assurance] with a law enforcement mechanism that is clear, fair, and gives certainty for everyone,” BPJPH chief Ahmad Haikal Hassan said over the weekend, as reported by the state news agency Antara.

The sanctions will apply to businesses that not only secure their halal certificates, but also fail to report changes in their ingredient compositions. The same goes for companies that do not slap the halal labels on their products. BPJPH may revoke their halal certificates or even stop their distribution in the market, according to the aforementioned regulation. 

Sanctions also include revoking the registration numbers of the halal auditors and foreign certificates. BPJPH may also temporarily freeze the operations of halal inspection agencies for up to 6 months. During this time, BPJPH may give them coaching for the latter to make improvements.

Indonesia has signed some mutual recognition agreements with foreign halal insurers to eliminate dual certification bottlenecks. The deals will see Indonesia recognizing foreign-issued halal certificates and vice versa, streamlining cross-border commerce.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country.

Add as a preferred source on Google +