Halal certification fees for micro and small enterprises waived – Indonesia’s BPJPH

Halal certification fees for micro and small enterprises will be waived, Prof Sukoso, the head of Indonesia’s halal certification authority BPJPH told Salaam Gateway on Thursday (Jan 9).

BPJPH started its operations on October 17 as Indonesia’s national body overlooking the mandatory certification of all products that are halal. The authority took over from Islamic clerical body Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI).

However, the schedule of fees for halal certification was not made available at the time BPJPH started in October, as the authority was waiting on the ministry of finance to set the tariffs.

“I hope the Ministry of Finance will announce the regulation for tariffs as soon as possible,” Prof Sukoso told Salaam Gateway.

“This regulation will be a baseline to realize the certification to be done by the BPJPH,” he added.

Finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on Wednesday (Jan 8) told local press that fees for halal certification will be waived for micro and small businesses.

As to how long the fees will remain free for micro and small companies, Prof Sukoso told Salaam Gateway BPJPH will evaluate the fee status for these enterprises based on their business progress reports.

There have been concerns about fees for halal certification weighing down small and medium-sized companies.

Salaam Gateway reported in July last year that certification fees for SMEs could range from 1 million rupiah ($71) to 1.5 million rupiah per application per product group. Bigger companies could pay three times more. 

There are around 60 million SMEs operating in Indonesia.

The government told local media in February 2019 it expects to raise 22.5 trillion rupiah ($1.6 billion) in revenue annually from halal certification. 

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