Keep present system of 'halal' labeling

Keep present system of 'halal' labeling

The Indonesian Ulemas Council's (MUI) recent pullout from a
team deliberating a government draft decree on the labeling of
halal products caused deep apprehension among Moslems. Tini Hadad
of the Indonesian Consumers Organization (YLKI) talked to The
Jakarta Post about the topic.

Question: How do you see the problem?

Answer: I support MUI's decision. We cannot let manufacturers
put halal labels on their products, as they want to, without an
MUI halal certificate. Not all of them have the authority to do
so judging from the fact that not all of them are Moslems. MUI
has the experts so let them handle the certification.

Q: Do you think it is necessary to regulate halal labeling?

A: The new Law on Food (1996) indicates that halal labeling
comes only as a voluntary act on the part of manufacturers. This
is based on their own interests rather than on the consumers'.
There is no obligation for them to do so.

So a government regulation requiring all food manufacturers to
use halal labels would be a good step. It would ensure consumers'
right to get the right information about the food.

Yet I think the current certification system is enough if it
is done by the Ministry of Health like the registration of food,
beverages, medicine, and cosmetic products. Once a product is
legally registered by the Ministry of Health, the manufacturer
doesn't have to buy an additional label or sticker to put on
product packages to inform consumers it has been registered as a
healthy food by the authority.

By so doing there will be no additional funds needed to buy
the sticker so there will also be no worries about consumers
baring the burden of unnecessary product or promotion costs.

Q: Are you trying to say you disagree with the government's
plan to apply halal stickers to food products?

A: That's right. We agree with the plan to establish a
government regulation on halal labeling. What we are very much
against is the plan to apply halal stickers, which it is presumed
will cost Rp 10 (US$0.004) each, on every food product package.

What we are afraid of is the negative effect of the
regulation. Although President Soeharto has said the labeling
should not affect consumers, it is an impossible undertaking.

I don't think there would be any manufacturer in the world
which would be willing to accept such a consequence all alone. As
far as I know, all manufacturers are reluctant to allocate funds
for the stickers.

So, sooner or later, it will surely affect the price of
products. This, in turn, can cause high inflation for we have
many more halal foods in the market than nonhalal ones,
remembering Moslems are the majority here.

Q: Meaning...?

A: This means the funds needed for the labeling will also be
much bigger.

Q: Are you suggesting that nonhalal labeling is much more
efficient than halal labeling?

A: Sure, nonhalal labeling would be much more efficient. But,
we have already had that law. There's no need to discuss the
matter right now.

Once we had a regulation issued by the Ministry of Health
stating that every product containing pig or its derivatives had
to be labeled with a picture of a pig head informing people the
product was nonhalal. It lasted for only a couple of years. I
don't have any idea why?.

Q: Do you see a better way for consumers to be well informed
about what they are buying without having to be burdened with
unnecessary expenses?

A: By letting MUI do its job and give halal certificates to
those who deserve it. Then, based on the certificate, the product
is given a special code or a notification number by MUI to be
printed in each package. Just like what the Ministry of Health
does with its registration numbers.

Halal labeling is a means of communication between the
manufacturer and the consumer saying that a certain product is
halal. So, the most important thing is that consumers get the
message, regardless of whether it is a separate sticker or
printed on the package.

On this point, printing the message -- which is done by the
manufacturer -- is much easier, more practical, efficient and
cheaper than sticking a sticker on the package. Why don't we let
them do that? Why go to the trouble of forming a special
institution to handle the stickers' production and distribution?

Besides, it's not fair to MUI and the Ministry of Health. It's
MUI and the Ministry of Health which are issuing the registration
and the certificate. Why should somebody else get a financial
advantage by just producing and selling the stickers?

Q: How about the monitoring of the labeling? How do consumers
make themselves sure that a halal label means a halal product?

A: That's what I've been suggesting has to be made clear in
the coming regulation. The monitoring has to be the
responsibility of the Ministry of Health and MUI. As far as I
know a halal certificate is given for two years. So, every two
years it has to be renewed.

Strict control is a real need here to monitor that no expired
certificates are used. Monitoring is also needed during the two
years a certificate is valid. Careful monitoring will prevent a
manufacturer from using ingredients suspected to have pork
ingredients like gelatin or shortening.

According to YLKI's monitoring, we don't need to worry about
domestic products. They all use vegetable oil. The ones that need
special attention are imported products. We are not sure if they
are free from pork ingredients. (swa)