DTI seeks halal agreement with Indonesia
The Philippines has sought for halal certification and accreditation agreements with Indonesia to ensure the country can participate in its booming market for halal products and services.
Philippines Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau Director Senen Perlada highlighted the need for these bilateral agreements during his presentation in a recent webinar organized by the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Jakarta, DTI Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) and Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) Global MSME Academy to discuss business opportunities for halal products and services in Indonesia under its new halal regulations.
Perlada said that a government to government mechanism is the most effective way to address halal certification and accreditation issues. “The most straightforward way to solve halal certification issues is to have a government to government agreement. We really need to capacitate our certifying bodies, so that they are in line with the bilateral agreements with the countries we are dealing with,” he explained.
Professor IR Sukoso, head of the Indonesian Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH), said the Indonesian government welcomes the opportunity to explore areas of cooperation with the Philippines in the promotion of halal-certified products and services.
Jakarta-based Philippine Commercial Attachè Jeremiah Reyes also echoed the need to enter into an MOU with Indonesia.
“We have been in talks with Prof. Sukoso a few times regarding the initial draft that is now submitted for review to the Philippine Halal Export Board. Consultations with stakeholders are ongoing, particularly with the private sector because at the end of the day, we don’t want the process to be burdensome to any of us, especially to the private sector,” he said.
Since 2018, the Philippine government, through the DTI and PTIC Jakarta, has been actively pursuing an MOU and a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) with the Indonesian government. The MRA was also tacked during the Seventh Meeting of Philippines-Indonesia Joint Working Group (JWG) for the implementation of the MOU on trade, investments, handicrafts and shipping of the two economies on August 25 and 26, 2019.
An MRA between Philippines and Indonesia means that each government’s halal accreditation body would recognize each other’s compliance with the MRA requirements and eliminate the need for repeated conformity assessment activities. This will result in facilitating trade between the countries due to the mutual acceptance of the conformity assessment results and reduce discriminatory treatment between imported and domestic products that require halal certificates.
Trade and Industry Undersecretary for trade promotion group Adulgani Macatoman also noted that Indonesia remains an important trade partner of the Philippines with a long history of cooperation in various sectors.
“Although we have significant value of trade on food with Indonesia, we want to maximize it even more by exploring opportunities in Halal,” said Macatoman. Indonesia is ASEAN’s largest economy and a predominantly Muslim country.
The continuing negotiations on the MOU and MRA on halal certification are part of the DTI’s strong push to promote halal-certified products and services in global markets, in support of the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Program enshrined in RA 10817.