Indonesia: Ulema council launches online halal certification service

Agency of Indonesian Ulema Council (LPPOM MUI) launched an online halal certification service called CEROL – SS 23000 here on Thursday.

“The CEROL certification system will accelerate the process of halal certification for products and improve the agency`s documentation system,” LPPOM Director Lukmanul Hakim stated here on Thursday.

According to Lukmanul, the online system will ensure the transparency of the halal certification process followed by LPPOM. “The concerned company can follow every sequence of the halal certification online,” he remarked.

Lukmanul explained that a company must go through several stages in order to obtain halal certification for a product. First, the company must register its product with LPPOM, provide complete data regarding the product and pay for the halal certification process. Following this, an officer from LPPOM will crosscheck the data given to the agency with the real condition of the product.

Apart from benefiting the company, Lukmanul noted, the online system will also allow consumers to know which company`s product is undergoing the halal certification process. According to a survey conducted by LPPOM in 2010, consumers` concern about the halal certification of products has increased from 70 percent in the previous year to 93 percent this year. Meanwhile, according to the survey, 95 companies have reported an increase in the sales of halal certified products.