'Halal' labels to be issued by religious minister

JAKARTA (JP): The government has finally agseed the Ministry of Religious Affairs has the authority to examine food and issue halal (allowed by Islamic law) labels for food products but it should heed the Indonesian Council of Ulemas' (MUI) religious edicts.

Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto said the decision was made after a closed meeting with Food Minister Ibrahim Hasan, Minister of Health Sujudi, Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher and MUI chairman Hasan Basri.

The draft government decree on halal food labels has been a source of heated debate for several months since Ibrahim Hasan tried to defer the authority to issue the labels to food producers.

Moslem organizations, especially MUI, protested saying it was a religious matter.

"The draft, that we agreed upon today, is expected to allay the Moslem community's concern and the producers' as well as it promises profitable prospects," Hartarto was quoted by Antara as saying.

Hartarto said the draft decree was to be a directive for the 1996 Law on Food which stipulates food producers have their products examined by an accredited agency which issues the label.

Sujudi said his ministry would be responsible for examining food products and would cooperate with the MUI's Institute for the Assessment of Food, Medicine and Cosmetics.

Sujudi said producers would have to bare the cost of having their products examined. "They must not raise the prices for it. It's only natural that they should bear the burden because they're the ones that will reap the profit," Sujudi said.

Hasan Basri hailed the decision. "It's all clear now. The problem of halal or haram (forbidden by Islamic law) is our responsibility toward Allah, not only to men." (swe)