G/TBT/W/496  
 
19 April 2018  
(18-2438) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 INDONESIA — HALAL PRODUCT ASSURA NCE LAW NO. 33 OF 20 14 
STATEMENT BY THE EUR OPEAN UNION TO THE C OMMITTEE ON TECHNICA L BARRIERS TO TRADE  
21 AND 22 MARCH 2018  
The following communication, dated 16 April 2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the European Union .  
 
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1.  The E uropean Union would like to reiterate its serious concerns  as regards  the Indonesian Halal 
Product Guarantee Law No 33 of September 2014, whic h 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, announced to be fully 
enforced as from 2019, requires mandato ry 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.  According to recent information, two governmental regulations would be under preparation to 
complement the Halal Product Guarantee Law, namely, (i) a regulation setting tariffs for 
certification, and (ii) a draft implementing regulation on Halal Product As surance. This 
implementing regulation on Halal Product Assurance seems to foresee a two-stage timeline for the 
certification  of different sets of products: between year 1 to year 3 as from the date of 
enforcement, Halal certification would be required for food and beverages, while products such as 
medicines, cosmetics, chemicals or biological products would have to be certified from year 1 to 
year 5.  
3.  The EU kindly requests that, for transparency purposes and as set out in Article 2.9 of the TBT 
Agreement, Indonesia notifies to the WTO, via the TBT notification system, the Halal Product 
Guarantee Law, which was not notified at the time, as well as the draft implementing regulation on 
Halal Product Assurance, and any other implementing regulations and provide s updated 
information on further measures under preparation and the time frame for their adoption. 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 consideratio n. 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 exportin g Members to adapt their products or methods of production to 
Indonesian requirements . 
4.  The European Union considers that Halal measures should have the purpose of ensuring 
reliability of information and facilitating consumer's choice. The EU calls upon Ind onesia to 
reconsider its approach and keep Halal certification and labelling voluntary, as a less trade 
restrictive measure respectful with the legitimate objective of ensuring reliable information.  
5.  As regards the draft government implementing regulation o n Halal Product Assurance, the 
European Union would seek confirmation that European companies or exporters would evaluate 
their products and determine whether they wish to claim that these are Halal or not and therefore 
whether they require Halal certifica tion or not. The European Union would also seek confirmation 
that it would be possible to place non-Halal products in the Indonesian market in accordance with 
the Halal Law without time limitation. The European Union notes that according to the draft G/TBT/W/496  
 
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  imple menting measure there is no obligation for non -Halal products to be certified. The European 
Union conveys its concerns on the fact that , according to available information,  non-Halal products 
should display specific non-Halal information, such as images, s igns or written text, since this 
would be unnecessary and would create an excessive burden for operators. The European Union 
considers that, in the absence of a Halal claim from the producer, no labelling obligations are 
justified.   
6.  The European Union note s that the provisions included in the draft implementing regulation on 
Halal Product Assurance in relation to the physical separation of Halal and non -Halal products 
during processing, storage, or distribution would deviate from 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 processing 
establishments, provided that appropriate measures are tak en 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 for non -Halal products if proper 
cleaning procedures, according to Islamic requirements, are observed.  
7.  The European Union notes the introduction of an exemption clause in the draft implementing 
regulation, according to which, medicines, biological products and medical devices of a life -saving 
nature using non -Halal raw material or not following the Halal process can still be distributed and 
traded until a Halal substitution product is found. This would contradict the principle of coexistence 
between products claiming Halal compliance and other products. The European Unio n would like to 
seek confirmation of the coexistence of Halal and non -Halal products without a time limitation, also 
for medicines, biological products and medical devices . 
8.  Although the draft implementing regulation defines both products for which Halal ce rtification is 
required and products exempted from it, we would like to ask for further clarification on the scope 
of the definitions .  
9.  The European Union notes that the draft implementing regulation provides for the recognition 
of foreign Halal certificat ion, according to which, products certified Halal by a foreign Halal 
institution having mutual recognition cooperation on Halal certification with the Halal Product 
Assurance Agency (BPJPH) do not need the BPJPH certificate, but only the product registrati on. 
The EU  would like to obtain further information of the planned set -up for such mutual recognition 
schemes and confirmation of whether such mutual recognition schemes are already in operation.  
10.  According to the information available, in addition to the H alal 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 fo r milk and milk products, fats, gelatines, egg products 
and honey . Both the lack of transparency on implementing rules and this fragmented approach 
create uncertainty as to the requirements applicable at any point in time. It is essential  to have a 
clearer  idea of the spec ific products under the scope of the Halal Product Guarantee  Law.  
11.  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 objecti ve.  
 
 
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