Government vows to punish chicken importers over 'halal' issue

JAKARTA (JP): The government will take stern measures against any company which imports chicken not slaughtered according to Islamic law, Minister of Agriculture Muhammad Prakosa said on Tuesday.

"The government will revoke import licenses of firms that import chicken without labeling the products with halal (edible) certification," Prakosa told a crowd of some 100 people grouped in the Muslim Workers Union (PPMI) at his office.

Riding in four Metro mini public buses, the PPMI members staged a protest at Prakosa's office on Jl. Harsono in South Jakarta, demanding the ministry take firm action against chicken importers who say they have distributed haram (nonedible, according to Islam) meat to local markets across the country.

They demanded, therefore, that the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, halt its import.

According to Islamic law, chicken can be halal only after the bird is slaughtered based on Islamic law, that is, the slaughtering process is done by facing the Ka'bah direction in Mecca and saying the word Bismillah (under the name of Allah) before cutting its throat with a sharp instrument.

The need to stop haram meat believed to have been shipped from several countries overseas was already aired by several parties, including local breeders. The breeders said chicken sold in Indonesian markets is relatively cheaper than the local product since the meat, such as the legs, is not popular due to its high fat content.

During Tuesday's protest, many supporters also urged the government to set up a protection scheme for local breeders.

Prakosa said the ministry was coordinating with other related departments two weeks ago to observe abuses of the import license.

"The ministry held several meetings with, among others, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the Customs Directorate office and the Ministry of Industry and Trade," the minister said.

Based on the meetings, his ministry started searching for importers believed to have breached the rules, Prakosa said.

No suspect

Separately, the ministry spokesman, Darmin Hasibuan, said the ministry regulated the importers to not sell imported chicken to local traditional markets.

"They are only allowed to provide imported chicken to certain markets, such as those serving people at PT Freeport Indonesia mining firm (in Irian Jaya) or Arun (NGL gas company in Aceh)," Darmin said.

So far, he said, the ministry had yet to learn whether there were importers which had breached the rule.

"The Directorate of Animal Husbandry has inspected a number of companies believed to have violated the rules, but none have been named yet," he said, adding that the ministry would continue the investigation.

He said chicken from local breeders was able to meet market demand in the country.

"The annual demand for chicken reaches some 700,000 tons," he said.

However, Darmin said the price of imported meat was much lower than local chicken.

"Several countries, such as America, exports its cheap chicken in the form of drumsticks, which is categorized as dark meat or remnant cuts due to its high fat," he said.

Data from the information center for the Jakarta Poultry Market (Pinsar) recently revealed that large cities across the country have been flooded each month by some 200 tons of imported poultry from the States since earlier this year.

Eggi, the protest coordinator, said the cheap price of imported chicken, which was considered "junk" by Americans, could affect local breeders' business.

"Imported chicken is sold between Rp 3,500 and Rp 5,000 each, while local breeders sell them between Rp 6,000 and Rp 7,000," he said.

Egi said many local breeders had suffered significant losses following the arrival of imported chicken.

"Many breeders in Jakarta and Surabaya have recorded losses between Rp 200 million and Rp 300 million per month since they can not compete with the price of imported chicken," he said without elaborating. (asa)