G/TBT/W/571  
 
29 November 2018  
(18-7549) 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 COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
14 AND 15  NOVEMBER  2018 
The following communication, dated 22  November 2018, 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 o f 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, initially announced to be fully enforce d as from 
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 Indo nesia must be Halal certified.   
2.  Several government regulations on the technical implementation of the Halal Law would be under 
preparation. In particular, the draft implementing regulation on Halal Product Assurance seems to 
foresee a two -stage timeline fo r the certification of different sets of products.1 
3.  According to recent information, discussions on implementing provisions are still ongoing at 
government level and the effective application of the Halal law could be postponed. The European 
Union would welcome confirmation on this point.  
4.  The EU regrets th at the Halal Law was not notified to the TBT Committee. The EU invites 
Indonesia, for transparency purposes, and as set out in Article 2.9 of the TBT Agreement, to notify 
the draft implementing regulation on Halal Product Assurance via the TBT notification  system, as 
well as any other implementing regulations. Indonesia is also encouraged to provide 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, reasonab le time should be allowed, so that 
eventual comments by Members can be taken into consideration. Furt hermore, 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 publica tion 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.  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 Indonesia to reconsider its 
approach and keep Halal certification and labelling voluntary, as a less trade restrictive measure 
respectful with the legitimate objecti ve of ensuring reliable information.  
6.  As regards the draft government implementing regulation on Halal Product Assurance, the 
European Union would seek confirmation that European companies or exporters would evaluate their 
                                                           
1 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.  G/TBT/W/571  
 
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  products and determine whether the y wish to claim that these are Halal or not and therefore whether 
they require Halal certification 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 implementing 
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 i nformation, non -Halal products should display 
specific non -Halal information, such as images, signs 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.  
7.  The European Union notes that the provisions included in the draft implementing regulation on 
Halal Product Assurance in relation to the physical separation of Halal and non -Halal prod ucts 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), wi thin the same premises or processing 
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 whic h have been previously used for non -Halal products if proper cleaning procedures, 
according to Islamic requirements, are observed.  
8.  The European Union notes the introduction of an exemption clause in the draft implementing 
regulation, according to which, m edicines, 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 o f coexistence 
between products claiming Halal compliance and other products. The European Union would like to 
seek confirmation of the coexistence of Halal and non -Halal products without a time limitation, also 
for medicines, biological products and medica l devices  
9.  Although the draft implementing regulation defines both products for which Halal certification is 
required and products exempted from it, we would like to ask for further clarification on the scope 
of the definitions.  
10.  The European Union notes th at the draft implementing regulation provides for the recognition 
of foreign Halal certification, according to which, products certified Halal by a foreign Halal institution 
having mutual recognition cooperation on Halal certification with the Halal Produc t Assurance Agency 
(BPJPH) do not need the BPJPH certificate, but only the product registration. The EU would like to 
obtain further information of the planned set -up for such mutual recognition schemes and on the 
timing for their operation, in view of Mem ber States concerns in this respect and the need to obtain 
or renew the recognition 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 in put in place.  
11.  According to the information available, in addition to the Halal Product Guarantee Law, 
additional provisions on Halal requirements would have already been set out in separate regulations 
for specific produ cts, (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. 
Both the lack of transparency on implementing rules and this fragmented approac h create 
uncertainty as to the requirements applicable at any point in time. It is essential to have a clearer 
idea of the specific products under the scope of the Halal Product Guarantee Law.  
12.  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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