Ministers defend 'halal' ruling

Ministers defend 'halal' ruling

JAKARTA: Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf
Kalla and Minister for Religious Affairs Said Agil Munawar
defended on Thursday a much-criticized new ruling on halal
certification.

The ministers agreed however, that the halal labeling for each
product should not be mandatory. "Producers are free not to put
the halal label, but they would be put at risk of making (Muslim)
consumers suspicious as they could not guarantee that food or
beverages were not prohibited by Islamic teaching," Minister
Kalla said.

If a food or beverage is halal, this means that it may be
consumed by Muslims.

Producers have earlier lambasted the new ruling saying it was
designed solely for the purpose of extorting money from
businesspeople, and thus consumers, rather than protecting
Muslims from consuming forbidden food and beverages.

The draft revision of the ruling has been submitted to the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights for further review. After
this stage, it will be submitted to the President for
endorsement. --JP