G/TBT/W/724  
 
10 March  2020 
(20-1846) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
INDONESIA - HALAL PR ODUCT ASSURANCE LAW N° 33 OF 2014  
STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
26 – 27 FEBRUARY  2020 
The following communication, dated 9 March  2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the European Union . 
 
_______________  
 
 
1.  The European Union would like to reiterate its serious concerns on the Indonesian Halal Product 
Guarantee Law N ° 33 of September 2014, which requires mandatory  Halal certification and labelling 
for the products within its scope to be placed in the Indonesian market.  
2.  The European Union stresses that, neither the Halal Law nor the first Implementing Regulation 
PP N° 31 of 2019 were notified to the TBT Committee. We acknowledge the notification, on 
14 October 2019, of a draft second Implementation Regulation of the Halal law, to which the EU 
submitted detailed written comments on 6 December 2019. The EU would welcome a reply by 
Indonesia. The first stage of the Halal Law, affecting food and beverages deriving from animal raw 
material, is in force since 17 October 2019.  
3.  Halal measures should have the purpose of ensuring reliability of information and facilitating 
consu mer's choice and shall not act as unnecessarily restrictive trade barriers. The proposed 
measures would have a restrictive impact on trade flows and the EU calls upon Indonesia to 
reconsider its approach and keep Halal certification and labelling voluntary , limiting its effects to the 
legitimate objective of ensuring reliable information.  
4.  The proper implementation of the Halal Law will require the adoption of further measures, namely 
on the certification fee, the mutual recognition of Halal certification wi th international organisations 
and the sectors that need specific attention, such as pharmaceuticals or medical devices.  
5.  In line with Implementing Regulation PP N ° 31 of 2019 , all products produced, imported and 
distributed in Indonesia claiming to be Hala l must be certified. Products made from clear Haram 
ingredients are excluded from Halal certification by definition. The European Union acknowledges 
the possibility to place "non-Halal" products in the Indonesian market and the fact that there is no 
obliga tion for "non-Halal" products to be certified. However, neither the Halal Law nor the 
implementing provisions specify clearly the list of Haram products. Moreover, the European Union 
would like to have clarifications on the practical implementation of the obligation for "non-Halal" 
certifiable products to highlight that they contain Haram substances. In our view, "non-Halal" 
labelling is unnecessary and creates an excessive burden for operators. In the absence of a Halal 
claim from the producer, no labellin g obligations are justified.  
6.  According to the first stage  of the Halal Law, which started on 17 October 2019 and will last until 
17 October 2024, food and beverages  derived from animal raw materials, including fresh and 
processed food, are required to obt ain Halal certification and labelling. We understand that products 
without Halal certificate can still enter and be traded in the Indonesian market (subject to marketing 
authorisation, commercial or import license). In any case, the grace period of 5 years  for food and 
beverages is a challenge for economic operators and certification bodies, taking into account the 
operations involved (i.e. auditing, storage, transport). In this respect, the European Union would 
like to recall the provisions included in the  "Codex Alimentarius Guidelines" for the use of the term G/TBT/W/724  
 
- 2 - 
 
  "Halal" in food labelling. They permit the processing of both ( "Halal" and non -"Halal" products) within 
the same premises or processing establishments provided that appropriate measures are taken to 
prevent any contact between them. In addition, Halal food can be transported using facilities 
previously used for non -Halal products if proper cleaning procedures, according to Islamic 
requirements are observed.  
7.  The extension of Halal requirements to prod ucts other than food and beverages derived from 
animal raw materials seems disproportionate. We would be interested in having further practical 
information on the gradual implementation of the Halal law for the different sets of products covered 
and on the  "Memorandum of Understanding " recently signed by the Indonesian authorities on 
enforcement.  
8.  Pharmaceutical products  using non-Halal raw material or not following the Halal process  can still 
be marketed without Halal certification if they include ingredien ts that do not have a Halal 
substitution, provided that the product label includes information on the raw materials of the 
substance. The European Union considers that there should be coexistence of "Halal" and non -"Halal" 
products without a time limitatio n also for medicines, biological products and medical devices.  
9.  Concerning the recognition of international Halal certification, we would welcome the 
confirmation of the transitional arrangement according to which products that have already been 
Halal cert ified and obtained a distribution permit do not need to re -register for new Halal certification 
until expiration of the existing certificates. The European Union considers that requiring a bilateral 
government -to-government Mutual Recognition Agreement as a pre -condition for the Indonesian 
Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) to start recognising Halal -certifying agencies in a foreign 
country is complicated in practice and unnecessarily burdensome. EU Member States do not have a 
governmental agency entitl ed to identify recognised "Halal" certifying entities. The European Union 
invites Indonesia to consider less cumbersome practical solutions to continue recognising Halal 
certifying institutions and to provide further information on the technical implementa tion of the 
cooperation between the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) and foreign Halal agencies. 
Furthermore, the EU insists that Indonesia accepts test reports from EU laboratories accredited by 
an accreditation body member of the international arra ngements for mutual recognition of the 
International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum 
(IAF). Under Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement, technical rules should not be more trade restrictive 
than necessary to  fulfil a legitimate objective.  
10.  As set out in Article 2.9 of the TBT Agreement, the EU invites Indonesia, for transparency 
purposes, to notify to the TBT Committee any implementing measures, and to allow reasonable time 
for comments , as well as a reasonabl e interval of time between their publication and enforcement.  
11.  We would welcome updated information on the status of any eventual Halal requirements set 
out in separate regulations for specific products.  
12.  Finally, the European Union would like to have information on the ongoing discussions for the 
finalisation of the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) on Halal.  
 
__________