FSH News – Discuss halal behaviour in Indonesia with several FSH partner countries (12/13/2023).

International seminar series activities have invited several competent speakers in the field of halal lifestyle, namely:

1. Assoc. Prof. Dr Zalina binti Zakaria as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at UM Halal Research Center
2. Assoc. Prof. Dr Mu'min Roup, MA as Sharia Assessor of BPJPH, Lecturer at The Faculty of Sharia and Law, UIN Jakarta
3. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Majdah Zawawi as Deputy Dean of The Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyah of Laws and Researcher at the Institute of Halal Research (INHART) of IIUM
4. Kasinee (Farida) Katelakha, Ph.D as Researcher at The Halal Science Center, Chulalongkorn University

Assoc. Prof. Dr Zalina binti Zakaria, Deputy Vice-Cancellor of UM Halal Research Center, explained related product regulations to the agency that deals with halal products in Malaysia. He said there are two halal authorities in Malaysia, "namely the federal and state levels. At the federal level, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) functions as a government agency under the auspices of the minister responsible for developing and implementing halal standards and regulations in Malaysia".

Then, at the State level, there is the state's department of Islamic Development (JAIN) and the state's Islamic religious council (MAIN).

Malaysia also has a Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) responsible for promoting and facilitating investment in Malaysia, supporting investment in the halal industry. In addition, Malaysia has implemented several strategies to maintain a credible halal certification system through enhancing halal capacity building and training, enhancing certification processes, strengthening the regulatory framework, halal crisis management, and utilising technology.

Furthermore, regulations and halal supervision systems in Indonesia were also conveyed by 2. Assoc. Prof. Dr Mu'min Roup, MA, as Sharia Assessor of BPJPH, Lecturer at The Faculty of Sharia and Law, UIN Jakarta. He began his explanation by describing regulations related to halal products in Indonesia. Halal products include cosmetics, food, chemicals, clothing, and other industrial goods.

He also explained the halal certification model in Indonesia, "namely regularly for medium and large businesses and self-declare for micro and small businesses".

The conclusion conveyed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mu'min Roup, MA, said that changes from unwritten laws to favourable regulations related to halal products in Indonesia have a positive impact. However, there are also several challenges, such as the halal certification process, which tends to be long, the large number of diverse products, and the lack of education and literacy for SMEs because they think the ingredients used are halal, so halal certification is not needed. [AM]