BGN's Response to ICW Report on Alleged Mark-Up in Halal Certification Procurement
Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Dadan Hindayana has responded to the report submitted by Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) regarding allegations of mark-up in the 2025 halal certification services procurement. According to ICW’s findings, the potential state loss from this halal certification procurement amounts to Rp 49.5 billion.
Dadan Hindayana respects the steps taken by the anti-corruption organisation. “Thank you to ICW for paying special attention to Halal Certification,” said Dadan on Monday, 11 May 2026, as reported by detikcom. When contacted on Tuesday, 12 May 2026, Dadan permitted Tempo to quote that statement.
Dadan explained that the halal certification activities are part of the 2025 budget backlog that must be completed in 2026. All payment processes, he said, will still go through monitoring and evaluation mechanisms by relevant institutions.
“Before payment, it will definitely be reviewed by BPKP (Financial and Development Supervisory Agency) and also APIP (Government Internal Supervisory Apparatus). So everything will certainly be adjusted to the prevailing general prices,” said Dadan.
Indonesia Corruption Watch previously reported BGN Head Dadan Hindayana and the provider, which is a state-owned enterprise. Head of ICW’s Legal and Investigation Division, Wana Alamsyah, revealed that BGN conducted the halal certification services procurement split into four stages. The total budget for the halal certification is Rp 141.79 billion for a work volume of 4,000 certifications.
However, in the process, ICW identified several issues. One of them is that Presidential Regulation Number 115 of 2025 on the Governance of MBG Implementation and BGN Head’s Decree Number 401.1 of 2025 on Technical Guidelines for MBG Governance Implementation stipulate that fulfilling halal certification is the responsibility of the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG).
Thus, the party that should handle the halal certification is SPPG, not BGN. Moreover, said Wana, SPPG has received an incentive of Rp 6 million per day.
In addition, ICW suspects BGN attempted to split the halal certification services procurement into four stages to avoid tenders and selection, and to evade responsibility.
ICW conducted an analysis by calculating the halal certification costs referring to the Decree of the Head of the Halal Product Assurance Organising Agency Number 22 of 2024 on the Determination of BPJPH Public Service Agency Service Tariffs. The total cost for one medium-scale business category company, including halal certification, halal supervisor training, and halal supervisor certification, is Rp 23 million.
This figure is the upper limit tariff or maximum fee that can be charged by the Halal Inspection Agency. If using that tariff, the cost to be incurred would be Rp 92.2 billion for processing 4,000 halal certificates, not Rp 141.79 billion. The difference of around Rp 49.5 billion is what ICW is spotlighting.
On the other hand, said Wana, the winner of this certification procurement is a company not registered as a Halal Inspection Agency entitled to conduct halal certification assistance. Therefore, ICW suspects BGN “borrowed a flag” to carry out this procurement. “This finding indicates allegations of work diversion, either in whole or in part, to another party with LPH status,” said Wana on Thursday, 7 May 2026.
Based on these findings, ICW assesses that there has been an alleged criminal act of corruption under Articles 2 and 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended by Law Number 20 of 2021. The organisation urges the KPK to investigate the 2025 halal certification services procurement conducted by BGN.