WWW.CPPSSITE.COM – During 2023, the Office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) of Magelang Regency has issued more than 10 thousand halal certificates for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in its region. Meanwhile, this year, the Ministry of Religion targets the issuance of 5,000 halal certificates.
Head of the Magelang Regency Religious Affairs Office, Muhammad Miftah said, until now there have been several MSMEs that have applied for the issuance of halal certificates. However, it has not been processed due to obstacles. Moreover, he said, the requirements needed to obtain a halal certificate are now tighter than before.
He said, the tightening was caused by one of the drinks containing alcohol labeled halal.
“But, it’s not in Central Java. So now it is somewhat tightened. Starting from who the business companion is, entrepreneurs, what products, everything must be clear,” he said, Tuesday (19/3/2024).
Currently, he continued, there are around 400 business assistants in Magelang Regency. They intensively assisted and picked up the ball to MSME actors. So they can be helped to register their products and immediately get a halal certificate. Moreover, the processing of this halal certificate is free of charge until October 24.
The Ministry of Religion also targets around 5,000 MSMEs to get halal certificates. However, if after October 24 they have not registered, MSME players must pay when registering their business products.
“In fact, every time there is an MSME exhibition organized by the district government, we always set up a booth for halal certificate services,” he said.
Miftah continued, with the issuance of this halal certificate, it will automatically make it easier for MSME players to offer their products. He gave an example, there is one MSME product that can be exported to Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. The product is in the form of lanting which is a typical snack of Magelang.
According to him, MSME products can be more easily sold to supermarkets or modern retail markets if they have a halal certificate. That way, sales will increase and increase revenue.
Miftah emphasized that the Ministry of Religion will tighten the circulation of MSME products in Magelang Regency that have not received halal certificates or labels. For this reason, he asked all business actors to immediately register their products.