JAKARTA: Indonesia will enforce mandatory certification for all halal products from October 2026, the country's certifying body said, to increase its competitiveness in the global market. 

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, is seeking to strengthen its role in the growing global market for halal products, which was worth about $2.43 trillion in 2023, according to the latest State of the Global Islamic Economy Report. 

Most consumer goods and restaurants in Indonesia, including imported products, are required to have halal labeling by Oct. 17. 

The regulation applies to all types of businesses, including small and medium companies, and covers food and beverage products, herbal medicines and health supplements, cosmetics, and a range of other everyday items. 

“Halal certification should be positioned as a competitive advantage, a pillar of consumer protection, and a driver of inclusive and sustainable economic growth,” Ahmad Haikal, chief of the halal certifying body BPJPH, said in a statement this week. 

“Halal is customer satisfaction. Halal represents product hygiene, health, safety and quality. As such, today halal is seen as a market requirement, not just a mere regulation.” 

The first phase of Indonesia’s halal certification requirement was enforced in October 2024 and initially applied only to big businesses, including major global food producers such as Unilever and Nestle. 

Under the law adopted in 2014, the compulsory halal certification will be expanded to include more types of drugs in the coming years, while products or restaurants without halal certification are required to declare they do not comply with Islamic law. 

Islamic law prohibits consumption of pork or intoxicants such as alcohol, while meat can only be eaten if the animals were slaughtered by prescribed methods. 

There are 9.6 million halal-certified products across Indonesia as of October last year, according to data from BPJPH. 

The halal certifying body has been working with its foreign counterparts, including in Russia, the US and China, to boost exports of Indonesian products and strengthen the global halal ecosystem, Haikal said. 

“The ultimate objective is to make Indonesian halal products more competitive in the global market and position Indonesia as the world’s halal hub.”