Jakarta. Poland is seeing dollar signs in the Indonesian halal market, as Jakarta’s upcoming trade accord with the European Union, or EU, is expected to roll out the red carpet for Polish meat.

Enthusiasm for greater commerce has soared high since Indonesia and the EU signed the substantive conclusion to their free trade agreement in September after almost 10 years of negotiations. The Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will introduce major tariff eliminations, including on European agrifoods. 

Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, the secretary of state at the Polish Foreign Ministry, spoke to Jakarta-based reporters on Warsaw’s expectations for the agreement on Thursday.

He admitted that Indonesia-Poland annual trade to this day remained modest at “below $2 billion”, a number which he found a “bit small” compared to Indonesia’s sizable population of 280 million citizens. Amid the sluggish trade volume, Poland is now banking on the CEPA to bring its halal meat into the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. 

“We are the biggest producers of poultry [meat] in the EU. We are also a big exporter of beef … and halal products [in the region].  … We would like to use this opportunity [CEPA], given that you [Indonesia] have a large population which may be interested in that,” Bartoszewski said.

“We are ready to cooperate, … of course, it will be much easier once the CEPA is in place.”

Halal means that the meat is slaughtered according to Islamic dietary laws.

Poland has taken some steps to get their foot in the Indonesian halal market. Indonesia will require halal certification on imported products starting Oct. 2026. The Indonesian halal regulatory agency BPJPH inked a mutual recognition agreement with the Polish Halal Institute last October. Under this deal, Indonesia will recognize any halal certificates issued by the Polish certifier.

The EU website wrote that the CEPA would “remove the high tariffs” slapped on European agrifood exports. This includes poultry, beef, dairy, as well as fruits and vegetables. The bloc reported that European agri-food exports to Indonesia were worth €1 billion (nearly $1.2 billion) last year. The Indonesia-EU CEPA is set to come into effect in January 2027.

Polish agrifood exports are on the rise, according to the Polish trade office. The country’s overall poultry meat shipments went up 9 percent year-on-year (yoy) in 2024 from a value standpoint. Beef, too, saw an 11 percent yoy growth. Poland registered a 9 percent increase in the export value of its meat products.

The Indonesian government data showed that the annual bilateral trade with Poland remained stuck at around $1 billion over the past two years. Trade was mostly in Indonesia’s favor, as the country’s exports totaled $726.8 million in 2024. Indonesia mainly sold electrical equipment as well as iron and steel last year.

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