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Government strips MUI of certification authority

Jakarta Post - November 23, 2016

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Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – After years of a tug-of-war between the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) over the authority to issue certification for halal products, the government finally has the upper hand as it will set up its own halal certification body by early 2017.

The agency, called the Halal Products Certification Agency (BPJPH) under the Religious Affairs Ministry, came into being after Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin signed a ministerial decree in October, as mandated by Law No. 33/2014 on halal certification.

The BPJPH will regulate applications for halal certifications as well as collecting the fees for certificate issuance, which will be accounted as additional non-tax revenue.

While some see the move as an apparent attempt to end the MUI's sole authority to issue halal certificates, which it has held for more than two decades, Lukman said the ministry had not scrapped the MUI's role. "MUI still holds the authority to issue halal edicts," Lukman said on Monday.

In accordance with the 2014 law, after the BPJPH is officially set up, applicants who want to obtain halal certification for their products must submit for registration at the agency, with fees that range from Rp 430,000 (US$32) for small and medium enterprises up to Rp 4.3 million for a halal certificate.

Then, the agency will forward it to a Halal Audit Agency (LPH), which could be set up in universities or civil society organizations, where the process of production of the specified products will be audited.

The BPJPH will then submit the audit reports to the MUI for the latter to issue edicts on whether the products are worthy of being certified halal or not.

The ministry's legislation planning division head Iman Syauqani said the new mechanism through the agency will make the fees for the halal certificates open for audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).

"The oversight mechanism should be conducted in cooperation with other ministries. With [the MUI's] position as a civil society organization, [control] is rather difficult," he said on Tuesday.

Activists and lawmakers have long criticized MUI for its lack of transparency about what it earns from the halal-certification fees derived from the issuance of certificates in at least three sectors of people's lives including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, as well as food and beverages.

Activists and lawmakers have long criticized MUI for its lack of transparency about what it earns from the halal-certification fees.

Suspicions have arisen that the government's move to take over control of halal certification comes after the council's decision to back the large-scale protest on Nov. 4, which brought together more than 100,000 Muslims demanding the prosecution of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama. The MUI issued an edict that Ahok had committed blasphemy in his remarks citing a Quranic verse.

However, the ministry said the timing was merely coincidental. "Don't relate it to that. The plan to establish the agency has been discussed for a long time," Iman said.

Amid such speculation, the MUI Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM) deputy chairman Oesmena Gunawan played down the wrangle between the organization and the government over halal certification.

"It does not matter who will [be responsible for the administration]. As long as the significance of 'halal' in the country does not cease, it's not a problem at all," Oesmena said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/23/government-strips-mui-certification-authority.html.