G/TBT/W/658  
 
18 July 2019  
(19-4779) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
INDONESIA - HALAL PR ODUCT ASSURANCE LAW NO. 33 OF 2014  
STATEMENT BY THE EUR OPEAN UNION TO THE C OMMITTEE ON TECHNICA L BARRIERS TO TRADE  
20 AND 21 JUNE 2019  
The following communication, dated 17 July 2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the European Union . 
 
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1.  The European Union would like to reiterate its serious concerns as regards the Indonesian Halal 
Product Guarantee Law No . 33 of September 2014, which  has a very broad scope and affects, among 
others, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, chemical and biological products, all consumer goods 
and cosmetics, as well as related services. The Law, to be fully enforced as from October 2019, 
requires mandatory Halal certification and labelling for the products within its scope in order to be 
placed in the Indonesian market. In particular, Article 4 provides that products entering, circulating 
and traded in the territory of Indonesia must be Halal certified.  
2.  The European Union considers that Halal measures, if adopted, shall not act as unnecessarily 
restrictive trade barriers, but should have the purpose of ensuring reliability of information and 
facilitating consumer's choice. The EU calls upon Indonesia to reco nsider its approach and keep Halal 
certification and labelling voluntary, as a less trade restrictive measure respectful with the legitimate 
objective of ensuring reliable information.  
3.  The European Union notes that a new Indonesian Government Regulation PP  No. 31 of 2019 on 
the Implementation of the Halal law (the "Implementing Regulation ") entered into force in May 2019 
and that it includes principles and procedures on Halal certification for goods and services, as well 
as general policy on recognition of foreign Halal certification. According to available information, the 
proper implementation of the Halal Law will require the adoption of further measures, namely on 
the certification fee, the phasing stages, the mutual recognition of Halal certification wi th 
international organisations and the sectors that need specific attention, such as pharmaceuticals or 
medical devices,  
4.  The EU invites Indonesia, for transparency purposes, and as set out in Article 2.9 of the TBT 
Agreement, to notify the Implementing Reg ulation, as well as any other future implementing 
measure to the TBT Committee. In accordance with Article 2.9.4 of the TBT Agreement, reasonable 
time should be allowed, so that eventual comments by Members can be taken into consideration. 
Furthermore, as foreseen in Article 2.12 of the TBT Agreement, Indonesia should, as a general rule, 
allow for a reasonable interval of time between the publication and the enforcement of adopted 
measures, in order to allow time for producers in exporting Members to adapt their products or 
methods of production to Indonesian requirements.  
5.  According to the Implementing Regulation, all products produced, imported and distributed in 
Indonesia must be Halal certified. Products made from Haram ingredients are excluded from Halal  
certification by definition, but there appears to be no list available of Haram animal products. The 
European Union welcomes the possibility to place "non-Halal" products in the Indonesian market in 
accordance with the Halal Law and that there is no oblig ation for "non-Halal" products to be certified. 
However, the European Union conveys its concerns on the need for "non-Halal" products to display 
a specific logo stating that they contain Haram substances. A future Regulation is announced to 
develop the specific details. The European Union considers that non -Halal labelling would be G/TBT/W/658  
 
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  unnecessary and would create an excessive burd en for operators. In the absence of a Halal claim 
from the producer, no labelling obligations are justified.  
6.  According to the new Regulation, implementation of the Halal law will start with food and 
beverages : those products derived from animal raw materi als, including fresh and processed food, 
will be obliged to obtain Halal certification between 17 October 2019 and 17 October 2024. As stated 
above, the European Union calls Indonesia to keep Halal certification and labelling voluntary. In any 
case, the Eu ropean Union would like to stress that this grace period of 5 years is considered not 
sufficient, since the auditing of all domestic and foreign producers, including storage, transport and 
handling operations will be a challenge for economic operators.  
7.  The European Union would like to recall the provisions included in the "Codex Alimentarius 
Guidelines" for the use of the term "Halal". Indeed, Codex guidelines allow for the processing of both 
(Halal and non -Halal products), within the same premises or proc essing establishments, provided 
that appropriate measures are taken to prevent any contact between Halal and non -Halal products. 
In addition, the same Guidelines provide that Halal food can be transported using facilities which 
have been previously used fo r non-Halal products if proper cleaning procedures, according to Islamic 
requirements, are observed.  
8.  According to the Implementing Regulation, by 17 October 2026, mandatory Halal certification 
will be required for all non -pharmaceutical, non -biological an d non -health device products , as well 
as traditional medicines  and health supplement products . The European Union would be interested 
in having detailed information on the gradual implementation of the Halal law and the different sets 
of products covered, as well as any transitional periods.  
9.  The European Union notes that, according to the Implementing Regulation, pharmaceutical 
products  using non -Halal raw material or not following the Halal process can still be marketed without 
Halal certification if they include ingredients that do not have a Halal substitution, provided that the 
product label includes information on the raw materials of the substance. The phasing period for 
medicines will be discussed separately. The European Union considers that there sh ould be 
coexistence of Halal and non -Halal products without a time limitation, also for medicines, biological 
products and medical devices.  
10.  According to the Implementing Regulation, products that have already been Halal certified and 
obtained a distributio n permit, do not need to re -register for new Halal certification until expiration 
of the existing certificates. Imported products including Halal ingredients can enter Indonesia as 
long as they are Halal -certified by a Halal inspection agency that cooperat es with the Halal Product 
Assurance Agency (BPJPH). The Halal Agency can recognise foreign Halal certification agencies based 
on recognition of reciprocity. Technical implementation for international cooperation will be further 
regulated by a Ministerial D ecree.  
11.  The EU would like to obtain further information of the planned set -up for recognition schemes 
of foreign agencies and on the timing for their operation, in view of Member States concerns in this 
respect and the need to obtain or renew the recogniti on of their Halal certifying bodies and avoid 
uncertainty. The European Union encourages Indonesia to find appropriate temporary solutions to 
avoid interrupting trade with Member States while the new system is put in place.  
12.  According to the information av ailable, in addition to the Halal Product Guarantee Law, 
additional provisions on Halal requirements would have already been set out in separate regulations 
for specific products, (for instance, for imports of carcasses and meat), and further requirements 
would be under preparation for milk and milk products, fats, gelatines, egg products and honey. 
Updated information on the status of those regulations would be welcomed. Both the lack of 
transparency on implementing rules and this fragmented approach creat e uncertainty as to the 
requirements applicable at any point in time.  
13.  The EU would like to recall that, under Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement, technical rules should 
not be more trade restrictive than necessary to fulfil a legitimate objective.  
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