Ministry of Trade Talks about Halal Animal Import Law

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Trade announced the details of its Trade Minister's Regulation No.29/2019 that went viral for its contents that most deemed controversial as the regulation did not oblige animal import products to be fitted with the halal label.

The ministry’s foreign trade director general, Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana, asserted that the public had misinterpreted the ministerial regulation.

“So this regulation went viral because there were those who compared the Trade Minister's Regulation No.59/2016 to the Trade Minister's Regulation No.59/2019. People highlighted one clause it contained. This clause only takes effect when [the products are] traded in Indonesia, as opposed to when the products are imported from overseas, both are different matters,” said Indrasari on Monday, September 16.

Indrasari mentioned that there were plenty of existing regulations that oversaw domestic product trades that must be labeled as halal, which was mentioned in the Law No.33/2014, the Government's Decree No.69/1999, and the BPOM's (The Indonesia Food and Drug Monitoring Agency) Decree No.31/2012.

“There are no changes in situations where a product is imported. What has changed in the Trade Ministry’s Decree No.59/2019 compared to the 2016 version is that there used to be a clause exclusively controlling domestic trades or distributions. Now that has been dropped [as there are similar clauses in other Laws],” said Indrasari.

The Ministry of Trade reiterated that the 2019 law change was not related to the international dispute between Indonesia and Brazil, and that it would not change the existing law obliging products to be labeled as halal.

CAESAR AKBAR | LARISSA HUDA