INDONESIA - HALAL - MUI Criticizes NU’s Plan to Draft Halal Certification

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) has criticized Nahdlatul Ulama’s (NU) plan to draft halal and honesty certifications for its members.

Lukmanul Hakim, MUI’s food, drug and cosmetics study agency’s (LPPOM MUI) director, said it was unnecessary for NU to issue its own certifications because the LPPOM’s halal certificate was transparent and practical. However, he said, the certificate arrangement was subject to fees because the office is not subsidized by the government.  (source)

HALAL FOOD - RI wants to be 'global center' for halal food

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is set to make Indonesia a global center for halal food products, saying it can help support the country's tourism as many visitors come from the Middle East.

“Eating halal food should start in the country with the largest Muslim population,” MUI's food, medicine and cosmetics analysis body (LPPOM) head Lukmanul Hakim said Wednesday in Jakarta. (full story)

HALAL - Most halal products lack official approval

Just over a third of all the halal products offered for sale in Indonesia actually have official halal certificates, according food and drug monitoring agencies.

Only 41,495 products — 36.73 percent of all products registered at the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) — had official halal certificates, according to the BPOM. (source)

HALAL - MUI to set single national halal standard

JAKARTA: The Indonesia Ulema Council (MIU) says it will set a single national standard for certifying halal food to replace 41 world-class institutions promoting different standards in Indonesia.

The MUI’s food, medicine and cosmetics analysis body (LPPOM MUI) head Lukmanul Hakim said that the 41 institutions had different standards, with only eight referring to the MUI.

“The different standards lie, for example, in pork usage. There are countries that see gelatin as halal, while MUI does not. Indonesia has every right to set our own standards for consumer protection,” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com news portal.