Indonesia Moves Selected Halal Certification Deadlines to October 2028

Two more years for selected products and businesses

Indonesia has moved mandatory halal certification deadlines for selected products and services to October 2028, giving micro and small businesses, importers and several manufacturing sectors more time to prepare. The revised timetable replaces requirements scheduled to begin on October 18, 2026, while keeping later deadlines for some medicines.

The Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs announced the adjustment in an October 16, 2026, ministry press release, reference HM.02.04/361/SET.M.EKON.3/10/2026. Imported food, beverages, slaughtered products and slaughtering services will enter mandatory certification on October 18, 2028. Micro and small businesses producing goods or providing slaughtering services in those categories have a transition period ending October 17, 2028.

The extension gives affected businesses roughly two additional years. Its reach depends on the product, service and business category: the ministry says categories outside the changes retain their existing schedules.

Business and religious organisations have challenged the decision from different directions. Importers say preparations were already under way and changing deadlines creates uncertainty. Leaders of the Indonesian Ulema Council, known as MUI, say the postponement delays protection for Muslim consumers.

Halal means permitted under Islamic law. Certification checks ingredients and how products are made and handled, helping Muslim consumers choose food, drinks and other goods that meet their religious requirements. For businesses, meeting those standards involves suppliers, production equipment, storage and distribution as well as the finished product.

Why the government changed the timetable

The Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs says its evaluation and feedback from business and industry associations showed a need for more preparation. It describes a certification system involving millions of businesses across multiple industries, with readiness depending on the organisations and processes supporting them.

Susiwijono Moegiarso, secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, explained that the extension would be implemented through a government regulation amending Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024:

Taking into account the readiness of the halal ecosystem, the government has extended the phased implementation of mandatory halal certification through a government regulation amending Government Regulation No. 42/2024,

The ministry presented the changes at an October 16 policy briefing involving ministries, the Halal Product Assurance Agency, known as BPJPH, business and industry associations, and other stakeholders. Government representatives attended in person, while associations and other participants joined online.

The government says the additional preparation time should protect consumers, keep trade moving and give businesses greater certainty. The disagreement now centres on whether a later deadline provides that certainty or disrupts companies that had prepared for October 2026.

Which food businesses and services get more time?

Article 160 is central to the revised timetable. Mandatory certification for services related to food, beverages and slaughtered products will begin on October 18, 2028. The ministry explicitly excludes slaughtering services from that particular provision.

Micro and small businesses receive a separate extension. Their transition period for food, beverages, slaughtered products and slaughtering services runs through October 17, 2028, with mandatory implementation following on October 18.

Business owners therefore need to identify the provision covering their activity. A small food producer and a company providing a related service may reach the same October 2028 implementation period through different parts of the regulation. Slaughtering services are included in the small business provision even though they are excluded from the general services provision described by the ministry.

The practical benefit is more time to organise certification work, including checks on ingredients and production arrangements. The government says other categories continue under the schedules already established in Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024.

Imports depend on recognition arrangements

Imported food, beverages, slaughtered products and slaughtering services have an explicit start date of October 18, 2028, under the changes to Article 160(3). The ministry links the adjustment to completion of cooperation on mutual recognition of halal certificates.

Mutual recognition means authorities agree on how certificates issued through another country's halal system will be accepted. For exporters, the arrangement connects certification obtained abroad with the requirements applied when goods enter Indonesia.

The government also plans to revoke BPJPH Regulation No. 4 of 2026 on Ensuring the Conformity of Foreign Halal Products Entering Indonesia. Implementing rules will be adjusted to match the amendment to Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024.

The ministry's announcement gives neither the amendment's number nor a publication date for the revised implementing rules, and it does not list which recognition arrangements remain unfinished. Importers therefore have the new policy timetable while further legal and administrative details await publication.

Cosmetics and supplements move, medicine deadlines stay

Article 161, specifically points a, d, e, f and g, covers another group receiving additional time. Transition periods previously ending in 2026 will now run through October 17, 2028, for natural medicines, quasi-drugs, health supplements, cosmetics, chemical products, genetically engineered products and certain consumer goods.

The distinction matters for companies selling several types of health or personal care products. Cosmetics and supplements move into the October 2028 transition group, while other medicines retain later dates.

Nonprescription medicines and medicines sold without a prescription under restricted conditions keep their transition deadline of October 17, 2029. Prescription medicines, excluding psychotropic drugs, keep the deadline of October 17, 2034. Psychotropic drugs are medicines that affect mental processes and are treated separately in the provision described by the ministry.

The unchanged medicine deadlines fall one year and six years after October 17, 2028, respectively. Indonesia's certification rollout therefore continues to use different schedules for different product categories, even after the latest extension.

What certification requires in practice

Businesses seeking halal certification must show that their inputs meet halal requirements and that the production chain follows the Halal Product Process, known by its Indonesian abbreviation PPH. Checks extend from purchasing ingredients through processing, storage, packaging, distribution, sales and display.

Production facilities and equipment must also be separated from activities involving nonhalal products. Ingredients prohibited under Islamic rules include pork, blood and alcohol. Preventing prohibited materials from mixing with halal inputs is a central part of compliance.

Saribua Siahaan, director for Southeast Asia investment promotion at Indonesia's Ministry of Investment and Downstream Industry, said foreign businesses would receive guidance and support. He stressed the need to demonstrate that raw materials remain separate from prohibited ingredients and said foreign companies, including Vietnamese businesses, had already obtained certification.

For a manufacturer, preparation can involve checking suppliers, reviewing how shared equipment is used, documenting ingredients and changing storage arrangements. Those tasks explain why certification reaches beyond applying for a label: the business must be able to account for what happens to the product throughout its journey.

Potential enforcement consequences described for violations include product withdrawal, business closure, revocation of distribution licences, fines of 2 billion rupiah and imprisonment of up to five years. The applicable consequence depends on the violation and the legal provision involved.

Vietnamese exporters have two application routes

Heni Rusmiyati, BPJPH's director of halal standardisation, advised Vietnamese companies to seek certification either directly through BPJPH's online system or through halal certification organisations in Vietnam. She named Halal Vietnam and GHC Global Halal Certification Company Limited.

Her guidance gives exporters two practical starting points while Indonesia works on recognition arrangements. Companies can organise ingredient records and review production practices before the mandatory start date, rather than leaving all preparation until the end of the transition.

Heni also said a government to government memorandum of understanding between Indonesia and Vietnam was feasible. She referred to an earlier Indonesian Chamber of Commerce proposal for an Indonesia-Vietnam Business Council as a possible platform for cooperation, including in the halal industry.

The proposed cooperation would bring together two parts of market access: businesses preparing products and documents, and authorities arranging how certification is recognised across borders. The October 2028 import deadline gives both processes a shared target.

Importers want a stable deadline

Erwin Taufan, deputy chairman of the Indonesian National Importers Association, known as GINSI, supported mandatory halal requirements in an October 17 statement. He referred to imported food and drinks as well as leather fashion products and shoes, saying consumers need assurance about goods entering the country.

Taufan said import businesses had already been preparing for the earlier deadline. In his view, postponing implementation suggested the government was less ready than the companies expected to comply, creating uncertainty for business planning. He urged the government to maintain a consistent course.

GINSI also described certification as a state responsibility to protect consumer rights. Taufan called for document checks, examination of production processes, review of product conformity and surveillance of goods circulating in the market.

The government's promise of certainty and GINSI's concern about disruption arise from different business positions. Companies still preparing gain time. Companies that organised their work around October 2026 must adjust to a later implementation date. A stable schedule and matching administrative rules matter to both groups.

MUI says religious duties continue

MUI vice chairman KH Muhammad Cholil Nafis questioned the postponement because mandatory halal certification had already been established in law. He urged Muslims to remain selective and avoid purchasing or consuming products without halal labels.

Cholil said the administrative delay affects enforcement of the certification requirement, while Muslims remain individually bound by religious obligations concerning what they eat, drink and use. His advice keeps halal labels central to daily purchasing decisions during the extended transition.

KH Aminudin Yakub, MUI's deputy secretary general for fatwa, warned that repeated delays could damage public trust and consumer rights. He called for stronger coordination between ministries and agencies and simpler certification procedures without reducing halal standards.

Aminudin referred to a succession of earlier implementation targets, including 2019, 2021, 2024 and 2026, in arguing against further postponements. His concern is that technical and institutional preparation should move faster so consumers receive the protection promised by the law.

The government and MUI both place consumer protection at the centre of their positions. Their disagreement concerns timing: the government argues that preparation supports effective implementation, while MUI leaders want that preparation completed without repeatedly extending the wait.

The legal framework and dates to track

Indonesia's halal assurance requirement is based on Law No. 33 of 2014 on Halal Product Assurance, as amended by Law No. 6 of 2023. Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024 supplies implementing provisions, including the phased schedules now being adjusted.

BPJPH's official regulation register records that Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024 was established and promulgated in Jakarta on October 16, 2024, and lists it as in force. The ministry's October 2026 announcement describes the amendment route for the new deadlines.

The main dates in the current transition are:

• October 16, 2024: Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024 was established and promulgated.
• October 16, 2026: The Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs announced the revised timetable.
• October 18, 2026: Previously scheduled start date for several requirements now moved to 2028.
• October 17, 2028: Transition periods end for the specified micro and small businesses and selected product categories.
• October 18, 2028: Mandatory certification begins for the specified services and imported categories.
• October 17, 2029: Existing transition deadline for nonprescription and restricted nonprescription medicines.
• October 17, 2034: Existing transition deadline for prescription medicines, excluding psychotropic drugs.

Businesses now have a longer preparation period in the affected categories. The next administrative steps are adjustment of implementing rules and revocation of BPJPH Regulation No. 4 of 2026, alongside continued work on recognition of foreign halal certificates.

Key Points

• Selected halal certification requirements move from October 2026 to October 2028.
• Micro and small businesses in the specified food and slaughter categories have until October 17, 2028, to prepare.
• Covered imported food, beverages, slaughtered products and slaughtering services enter mandatory certification on October 18, 2028.
• Cosmetics, supplements and several other product groups receive extensions; specified medicine deadlines remain in 2029 and 2034.
• Importers want consistent implementation, while MUI leaders warn about consumer protection and public trust.
• The government plans revised implementing rules and further work on recognition of foreign certificates.