This article is an English translation of Wajibkah Makanan Impor Bersertifikat Halal?, written by Bernadetha Aurelia Oktavira, S.H. and was published on Wednesday, 23 August 2023.

This article is an update of the article entitled Is there any sanction for sellers of imported products that are not labeled Halal? Which was first written by Tri Jata Ayu Pramesti, S.H. and published on Wednesday, 16 July 2014.

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According to Article 8 section (1) letter h Consumer Protection Law, business actors must not produce and/or trade goods and/or services that do not follow halal production provisions, as stated in the "halal" statement included on the label.

Sanctions for business actors who violate the provisions in Article 8 of the Consumer Protection Law based on Article 62 section (1) of the Consumer Protection Law are imprisonment for a maximum of five years or a maximum fine of IDR 2 billion.

However, the Consumer Protection Law does not regulate whether goods traded must include a halal label or not.

Inclusion of Labels on Food

Regulations regarding halal labeling on products both food and medicine/drugs as a form of protection for the Indonesian people, the majority of whose population adheres to Islam, are contained in the Food Law and Law 33/2014.

Moreover, the meaning of food is anything that comes from biological sources of agricultural, plantation, forestry, fishery, animal husbandry, waters, and water products, whether processed or unprocessed which is designated as food or beverage for human consumption, including food additives, food raw materials, and other materials used in the preparation, processing and/or production of food or beverages.[1]

To answer your question on the specific regulations regarding imported food products traded in Indonesian territory, we refer to Article 97 section (2) Food Law which reads:

Any person importing food for trade is obligated to attach a label inside and/or on Food Packaging during importation into the territory of the Republic of Indonesia.

The inclusion of labels in and/or on food packaging is written, printed or shown explicitly and clearly so that it is easily understood by the public using the Indonesian language and contains at least information regarding:[2]

1. product name;
2. list of ingredients;
3. net weight or content;
4. name and address of producer or importer;
5. halal for those required;
6. date and production code;
7. expiry date, month and year;
8. marketing authorization number for Processed Food; and
9. origin of certain Food.

Any person violating provision as referred to in Article 97 section (2) Food Law is obligated to re-export or destroy the imported Food.[3]

Non-Halal Information on Products from Haram Materials

Meanwhile, Article 4 Law 33/2014 regulates that products (in this case food or medicine/drugs) that enter, are distributed, and are traded in the territory of Indonesia must be halal certified. However, halal certification of imported products is exempted for business actors who produce products from ingredients derived from haram ingredients.[4] Haram means forbidden or proscribed by Islamic law.

Instead, business actors who produce products from prohibited ingredients are required to include non-halal information on the product.[5] Non-halal information can be in the form of pictures, signs, and/or writing included in product packaging, certain parts of the product, and/or certain places on the product with different colors in the composition of the ingredients.[6]

In practice, we found several examples of non-halal information on the packaging of imported food products such as "contains pork" or "in the manufacturing process in contact and/or using shared facilities with pork-sourced materials", and others.

It should be noted that the inclusion of non-halal information must be easy to see and read and not easily removed, detached, and tampered with.[7]

Sanctions for Not Placing Non-Halal Information

After knowing the exceptions to halal certification of imported products from ingredients derived from prohibited ingredients, then what are the sanctions if business actors do not include non-halal information on products from ingredients derived from prohibited ingredients? Business actors are subject to administrative sanctions in the form of written warnings.[8] In the event that the sanction of a written warning is not followed up by the business actor within a period of 14 days from the time it is determined, an administrative fine and/or withdrawal of goods from circulation by the business actor will be imposed for a maximum of 60 days from the time the sanction for withdrawal of goods is determined.[9]

Thus, if the product (food or medicine) is imported from ingredients derived from prohibited ingredients, it is exempted from the obligation to be halal certified. Instead, the product is required to include a non-halal information.

However, if the imported product comes from halal ingredients, it is required to be halal certified, the application for which is submitted by the importer or his authorized representative.[10]

These are the answers we can provide, we hope you will find them useful.

Legal Basis:

1. Law Number 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection;
2. Law Number 18 of 2012 on Food;
3. Law Number 33 of 2014 on Halal Product Guarantee;
4. Regulation of the Government in Lieu of Law Number 2 of 2022 on Job Creation which has been enacted into law under Law Number 6 of 2023;
5. Regulation of the Government Number 39 of 2021 on the Organization of Halal Product Guarantees.