Globally, estimated 1.2 to 1.57 billion Muslims populate the world, 60% of the populations live in Asia in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population with approximately 88% of its 235 million country population, while 12% of its population is non-Muslim with religion of Christian, Catholic, Budha and Hindu. It’s a potential market for Halal products. The increasing awareness of Muslim consumers on their religious obligations is creating greater demand for Halal products, as the command to consume and use Halal and to avoid those which are Haram as is written in the Quran.

In Indonesia, there is Lembaga Pengkajian Pangan Obat-obatan dan Kosmetika - Majelis Ulama Indonesia (LPPOM-MUI). An assessment institution formed by MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council) is to run MUI function in protecting Muslim consumers in consuming Halal products of foods, drugs, and cosmetics. Their mission is to establish and develop Halal standard and inspection system in Indonesia. Since the previous case of lard found in food in 1988, LPPOM-MUI aims to give Muslim Indonesian a peace of mind in consuming foods, drugs, and cosmetics.

However, MUI has decided to further restrict the import of food products from other countries, by signaling that it will soon make it mandatory for all imported items to be sold in Indonesia to have Halal certification. Hence, it scares importers to import product to Indonesia. Many products imported from New Zealand and other Western countries such as the United States and Australia carries Halal labels which MUI did not recognized. Thus, it is significant that Indonesia Halal authority intend to make sure that all traded products are truly Halal.

With the concern of Halal products, MUI along with PT Puteri Cahaya Kharisma (Performax) will held the World Halal Summit and Halal Business and Food Expo in Jakarta on July 23rd to 25th this year. The events will be attended by representatives from Muslim countries, which most of them are engaged in food, beverage, banking, cosmetics and distribution industries.

Halal system can be apply not only to foods and beverages but also to the businesses based on Islamic principles. The Halal system in Indonesia had covered the food sector and also the Shariah banking industry as the business-supporting sector. However, many business agents and peoples still had inadequate knowledge on the Halal concept in an integrated way.
 
It is essential to introduce what is Halal all about, Halal is not for Muslims only but Halal is for all. The Indonesian government cultivates the non-Muslims to understand that Halal is not just an Islamic value, but it is also a most potential economic value in today’s world. It is shown that most non-Muslim countries in the West and East are utilizing the ‘Halal Brand’ to their economic benefit and developing Halal products exports today. The reason for this vast thriving market contributed by the rising recognition of Halal products being widely recognized for its safety and quality assurance, and the Halal Label has become a symbol of “Good Quality Product” in Indonesia.

Reference:

1.      Badan Pusat Statistik Indonesia (The Indonesian Central Statistic Bureau), 2000.

2.      Majelis Ulama Indonesia (Indonesia Ulema Council), 2009. www.mui.or.id/konten/mengenai-mui  

3.      R, Anita & A, Dian. (2010). MUI Plans to Regulate Indonesia's Halal Imports. The Jakarta Globe.

4.      A, Gabriel. (2009). World Halal Business and Food Expo Held in Jakarta. Kompas.com.

5.      Global Halal Expo (2010). World Halal Market.