Government vows to punish chicken importers over 'halal' issue
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)