Several Reasons behind the Mie Gacoan Halal Certificate Case
“Business actors are required to apply the guidelines stipulated by the MUI in HAS 23000, completely conform with the provisions of business legality in the laws and regulations to draw a halal certificate.”
The name Mie Gacoan certainly be very familiar to the ears of culinary lovers made from noodles in Indonesia, especially for those who like food with a scathing taste.
As published on the official website, Mie Gacoan claims that they have grown and diversified into a market leader in their division, and have expanded their business in various regions in Indonesia.
Besides being famous as a restaurant that carries the concept of modern dining at an affordable price, Mie Gacoan is also known for menu names that are identical to mystical elements, such as mi iblis, mi setan, es gonderuwo, and so on.
Unfortunately, as reported by Detik.com (19/08/2022), Mie Gacoan has not yet received a halal certificate from the Halal Product Assurance Administration Agency (BPJPH).
This is the result of not fulfilling the brand or product name requirements as regulated in the HAS 23000 System Criteria Halal Warranty set by the Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics Study Institute of the Indonesian Council of Religious Scholars (LPPOM MUI).
Here are some things about the prescription that are required to be bursting with business actors to obtain halal certification for their business products.
Halal Assurance System (HAS) 23000
Every business actor that produces, distributes, or distributes products is required to have a halal certificate.
The above obligations are regulated in Law Number 33 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Guarantee (Law 33/2014) and its derivative rules, namely Government Regulation Number 39 of 2021 concerning the Implementation of the Halal Product Assurance Sector (PP 39/2021).
The definition of a halal certificate according to Law 33/2014 is an acknowledgment of the halalness of products issued by the Halal Product Guarantee Agency (BPJPH) based on written halal instructions issued by the MUI.
Therefore, the Halal Assurance System (HAS) 23000 HAS 23000 was created which is a certification requirement by LPPOM MUI as an institution in charge of examining and assessing whether a product is halal or not under Islamic law.
Halal certification requirements regulated in HAS 23000 contain several matters, such as the criteria for the Halal Assurance System (SJH) contained in HAS 23000:1, and other requirements such as policies and procedures for halal certification contained in HAS 23000:2.
Criteria for the Halal Assurance System (HAS) in the Halal Assurance System (HAS) 23000
Referring to the official LPPOM MUI website, the HAS Manual, and the Review HAS 23000 from smartwaymtc, there are 11 SJH criteria in HAS 23000 that are obliged to be bursting with business actors who want to gain halal certificates for their products. These criteria include:
- Halal Policy
The definition of halal policy is a written commitment to consistently produce halal products. Halal policies are obliged to be established and socialized to whom it may concerns.The Top Management of a company is required to establish a Halal Policy and socialize the halal policy among all manager interest (stake holders).
- Halal Management Team
Top management is obliged to establish a Halal Management Team that extends all parts involved in planning, implementing, evaluating, and correcting the company’s halal assurance system. - Training
The company is obliged to be provided by the Halal Assurance Team according to the halal certification requirements. Internal training obliged to carried out at least once a year and external training must be carried out at least every two years. - Material
There are two groups of materials, namely non-critical materials, and critical materials. The company is obliged to have supporting documents for all materials used, except for non-critical materials or materials purchased at retail. - Production Facilities
Several types of businesses that are required to apply the HAS 23000 default are:- Restaurant/catering/cook room
- All cook rooms, entrepots, and outlets used to produce products must be registered
- Restaurant outlets and refrigeration facilities in cook rooms or entrepots outside outlets used to store meat or processed products must be halal dedicated facilities
- In addition to the above facilities, it could be a sharing facility, but all facilities that are in direct contact with materials or products must be pork-free.
- Slaughterhouse (RPH)
- The RPH facility is only devoted to the production of halal animal meat
- The site of the abattoir must be separated from the RPH/pig farm
- If the deboning process is carried out outside the RPH, it is obliged to ensure that the carcass only comes from halal abattoirs
- The butcher shall qualify the requirements
- Processed food, medicine, and cosmetics industries
- Production facilities shall guarantee that there is no cross-contamination with material/ forbidden materials/impure
- Production facilities can be used interchangeably to produce certified and uncertified products as long as they do not contain ingredients derived from pigs/derivatives, but there shall be a procedure that guarantees no cross-contamination occurs.
- Product
- Product sensory characteristics/profile: shall not have a tendency to scent or sense that portend haram products or that have been declared haram based on the MUI instructions.
- Product form: do not draw on product form, packaging form, or label that portrays erotic, vulgar, or pornographic nature.
- Trademark/product name: registered for certification shall not use a name that refers to something that is forbidden or honored that is not under Islamic law. Retail food products with the same brand circulating in Indonesia shall be registered in whole for certification, not only in part registered.
- Critical Activity Written Procedure
The company shall have written procedures regarding the implementation of critical activities. The definition of critical activities are activities in the production chain that could incline the halal status of products, which generally include:- New materials used for certified products
- Product formulation and development
- The material investigation coming
- Production
- Production facility cleansing
- Storage of materials and products
- Material and product transportation
The scope of critical activities may vary according to the company’s business processes.
- Traceability
The company is obliged to have a written procedure that guarantees the traceability of the certified product which guarantees that the product can be traced from materials approved by LPPOM MUI and produced in facilities that qualify the facility criteria. - Handling of Products who does not Qualify the Criteria
The company should have a written procedure to handle products that do not qualify the criteria, that is, they are not sold to consumers who require halal products and if they are already for sale, they shall be withdrawn. - Internal Audit
The company should have a written internal audit procedure for the implementation of the halal assurance system (HAS).Internal audits are carried out at least once every six months and are carried out by competent and independent internal halal auditors.
- Management Review
The company is required to conduct a management review at least once a year, to assess the effectiveness of HAS implementation and formulate continuous improvement.
Product Name and Product form that Cannot be Certified Halal
Then, there are more detailed provisions regarding the name and form of products that cannot be certified halal.
In regarding conveyed in the Decree of the Institute for the Study of Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics of the Indonesian Council of Religious Scholars Number SK 46/Dir/LPPOM MUI/XII/14 concerning Provisions for Writing Product Names and Product Forms, which include:
- A product name that cannot be certified:
- Product name containing liquor name (example: root beer, rhum raisin flavored ice cream, 0% alcohol beer, etc.)
- Product names containing names of pigs and dogs and their derivatives (example: beef bacon, hamburger, hotdog, roast pork, rica gukguk (dog), and so on)
- Product names that contain the name satan (example: devil’s noodles, pocong chicken noodles, satan’s chips, genderuwo ice, and so on)
- A product name that refers to things that cause skepticism and immoral (example: Valentine chocolate, etc.)
- Product names that contain words with erotic, vulgar, and/or porn connotations (example: tante girang milk, striptease cake, and so on)
- Forms of products that cannot be certified:
- Pig and dog animal shape
- The form of products or packaging labels that are erotic, vulgar, and/or pornographic
However, there are some exceptions to the list of product names that cannot be certified. This means that the following product names might be certified, namely (SK 46/Dir/LPPOM MUI/XII/14):
- It has become a tradition, is extensively known, and certainly does not entail any prohibited elements (example: beer pletok, foods entailing the word ‘bak’, such as bakso, bakmi, bakpao, bakwan, and so on)
- Product brands/trademarks entail other haram names (example: Cap Badak, Garuda, Bear, Crocodile, Kubra)
- Product names that entail the words sexy and sensual (example: sexy pink lipstick, sensual spa, sensual amber lotion)
Terms and Phases of Issuing a Halal Certificate
After applying the Halal Assurance System (HAS) by HAS 23000, business actors can bring it forward for halal certification registration.
Based on PP 39/2021 and the BPJPH Halal Certification official website, business actors shall bring forward a Support Receipt (STTD) first for the halal certificate issuance process on the https://ptsp.halal.go.id page.
Some of the STTD petition requirements, including (PP 39/2021 and the BPJPH Halal Certification official website):
- Business actor data
- Product name and type
- List of products and materials used
- Product processing
- Halal Product Assurance System Documents
Hereinafter, BPJPH would check the completeness of the documents. If it has been verified, the STTD would be published.
Thereafter, business actors or BPJPH could select and determine the Halal Inspection Agency (LPH). In general, LPH’s duty has to examine and/or verify the halalness of products in the field.
If the LPH has completed examination and verification, a document in the form of a report would be published.
This report is then delivered to the MUI. MUI is the party that has the right to determine whether a product is halal or not through a halal instructions trial.
If the results of the MUI halal instruction session state that the product as intended is halal, then BPJPH would issue a halal certificate. Business actors can download halal certificate documents from their respective accounts.
Want to manage a halal certificate, but are still in a daze about the procedure? Don’t hesitate to consult us, Prolegal!
Author: Faiz Azhanzi Yazid
Editor: Bidari Aufa Sinarizqi
Translator: Angelie Kartika Putri