A draft bill before on halal goods before the House of Representatives could help Indonesia become one of the world's leading producers of halal food and beverages, the government says.
Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said Thursday the Muslim-dominated country had the potential to become a leading supplier of such products to the global market.
"We can become a leader in the world's halal product market because the majority of Indonesians are Muslims, so products marketed in Indonesia should be halal," he said at a hearing of the draft bill before members of House Commission VIII on religion affairs, social affairs and women's empowerment.
Halal goods are those permissible under Islam.
"Moreover, we have abundant resources to produce halal goods," he added.
The government has proposed the draft bill amid concerns that "very few" products using the halal label are available on the domestic market.
Industry Minister Fahmi Idris said existing regulations allow for inconsistencies in halal certification.
"Therefore, we need a law that provides a guarantee on halal products comprehensively, ranging from a product's ingredients, its storage, the production process, packing process, all the way to a product's distribution chain," he said at the hearing.
Using fines and prison terms for noncompliance, the future law will also serve as a law enforcement tool, Fahmi said.
"Under this law, the minister will have the authority to declare a product is not halal if the producer is found to have acted against the law," he added.
According to Indonesian Food and Beverage Producers Association (Gapmmi) chairman Thomas Darmawan, there are currently 3,742 different types of halal products, out of 2.5 million products marketed domestically, including food, beverages and cosmestic products.
"That figure includes imported goods and products sold in restaurants," he said during the hearing.
The Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) says 2,800 companies have obtained halal certificates, including foreign firms, which account for 51 percent of the certificates requested. Of the foreign firms, 80 are Chinese, the council said.
The council has also urged the government to regulate the halal zoning system in modern retail markets to enable Muslim consumers to meet their needs more easily.
