Halal Industry and Exports: Readiness of Materials and Inspection Bodies

For export-oriented industries, halal certification is no longer solely a matter of domestic marketing. The mandatory requirement stipulated in Law 33/2014 on Halal Product Assurance applies to products circulating in Indonesia. When a factory produces for both the domestic and overseas markets, that compliance demand enters the same production line.

Two determining variables

In practice, industry readiness for halal certification rests on two things. First, the readiness of materials and production processes. Second, the availability of inspection bodies. The two are interrelated and cannot be done sequentially without planning.

Law 33/2014 governs the mandatory halal certification, the establishment of BPJPH, the role of the Halal Inspection Body (LPH), and the authority of MUI in determining the halal status of products. Halal certificates are only issued by BPJPH. The determination of halal status itself is the authority of the MUI Fatwa Commission or the Halal Product Fatwa Committee. This division of roles is important to understand so that industries do not misplace expectations on only one party.

Critical-point materials in the production line

Material issues often arise from components that do not appear as main ingredients. Several of them are commonly used in processed food and pharmaceutical products.

• Rennet. The enzyme that coagulates cheese. Animal rennet comes from the stomach of calves that must be slaughtered according to sharia. The alternative is microbial rennet from fungi or molds, or fermentation-produced chymosin (FPC) that is halal-certified. Rennet is used in hard and semi-hard cheeses such as cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, and gouda.
• Pepsin. A protein-digesting enzyme from the stomach of pigs or cattle, used in the cheese and pharmaceutical industries. The alternative is pepsin from the stomach of halal-certified cattle, or microbial protease enzymes as a substitute. Its uses include cheese production, digestive enzyme supplements, and some pharmaceutical products.
• Gelatin. A thickening protein from animal collagen. Its status is halal only if the source and slaughtering are clear. The alternatives are fish gelatin, halal-certified beef gelatin, or agar and carrageenan as plant-based substitutes. Gelatin is commonly found in marshmallows, jelly candies, medicine and supplement capsules, ice cream, yogurt, and certain bakery products.
• Vitamin D3 from lanolin. Commercial vitamin D3 is often extracted from lanolin, the fat from sheep's wool, not from slaughtered animals. The alternative is vitamin D3 from halal-certified lanolin, or vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) based on fungi and yeast. This ingredient is common in fortified milk and dairy products, multivitamin supplements, and infant formula.

These four ingredients show the same pattern: their status depends on the source. Therefore, tracing supplier documents is work that cannot be skipped. For export industries, supply chains are often longer and involve overseas suppliers. At this point, material readiness becomes a test of its own.

Readiness of inspection bodies

Another factor determining service speed is the readiness of the Halal Inspection Body. Government Regulation 42/2024 on the Implementation of Halal Product Assurance governs the procedures for the establishment, accreditation, scope of activities, and revocation of LPH approval, as well as the appointment and dismissal of Halal Auditors. This regulation replaces Government Regulation 39/2021.

The technical guidelines for LPH accreditation are set out through the Decree of the Head of BPJPH Number 78 of 2025 on Guidelines for Halal Inspection Body Accreditation. These guidelines cover requirements, Pratama and Utama qualifications, scope of competence, fees, application flow, surveillance, and witness assessment, with reference to SNI ISO/IEC 17065:2012.

For industries, the consequence is practical. An accredited LPH with an appropriate scope of competence is needed to inspect certain products. The Pratama and Utama qualifications indicate a distinction in capacity. Industries planning certification need to ensure that the scope of the targeted LPH indeed covers the types of products and processes they have.

Product groups required to be certified

The mandatory halal certificate does not apply simultaneously to all products. KMA 748/2021 on Types of Products Required to Be Halal-Certified sets out the product groups required to be halal-certified along with their phasing. This regulation was later amended by KMA 944/2024.

This phasing is important for industries because it determines the order of priority. Products included in the mandatory group at an earlier stage need to be handled first. For factories with many product lines, this order helps in drawing up a realistic work plan.

Preparing from the system side

Material readiness and inspection body readiness meet at one point: documentation. Ingredient registries, critical-point records, and supplier traceability evidence are the auditor's working materials. Without them, the inspection process will stall at basic questions.

Therefore, many industries start from within. The Halal Product Assurance System (SJPH) is built first, then tested through internal audits, before being submitted to the inspection body. This approach reduces the risk of repeated findings and speeds up the process.

For that need, IndoHalal.id provides an SJPH platform that helps manage SJPH criteria in a single application, from halal policy, ingredient registry, critical points, to internal audits and BPJPH certification readiness.