Indonesia’s BPJPH to work with national standardisation, accreditation agencies to strengthen halal certification

The Indonesian government’s new halal agency BPJPH will work with the National Standardisation Agency (BSN) and the National Accreditation Committee (KAN) to strengthen its work of halal certification.

BPJPH was established by the government in October 2017 to take over the role of halal certifier from the country’s top Muslim clerical body Majlis Ulema Indonesia (MUI) that has been the country's only certifier for almost 30 years.

MUI is still carrying out halal certification in the transition period until BPJPH will oversee all matters related to mandatory certification for products that are halal. Indonesia has so far been practising a voluntary opt-in halal certification system.

Head of the state-run halal body, Professor Sukoso, said on Tuesday the cooperation with BSN and KAN is important for the authority of BPJPH.

“BPJPH’s cooperation with BSN and KAN in the field of standardisation development, conformity assessment, and accreditation of halal inspection bodies, is expected to build a halal standards ecosystem that can become a reference for the world,” Sukoso said.

He said BPJPH already has several standards, including for the halal slaughter of poultry and slaughterhouses, while others are still in the works.

Sukoso stressed that working with the more established BSN and KAN will enable BPJPH to further government-to-government cooperation to strengthen halal standards.

BSN is a government institution tasked to foster and coordinate all activities of standardisation and conformity assessment in Indonesia. It is also the secretariat of KAN, which overlooks conformity assessment. Both are under and responsible to the President of Indonesia.

Both BSN and KAN are members of international standardisation and accreditation bodies, including the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), and the International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF).

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