News From : DagangHalal.com (10 Jun 2009)
Indonesia’s October 1 deadline for New Zealand to provide satisfactory halal certification of more than $100 million worth of meat exports poses a similar threat to $450m worth of dairy exports.
Indonesia has lifted a temporary ban on imports of beef from New Zealand after Muslim clerics clarified that the meat conforms to Islamic dietary laws – but the longer-term deadline is a threat to not only the meat sector, but also the dairy industry.
Trade Minister Tim Groser has acknowledged that a long-term solution is needed.
“This is a $NZ600 million trade New Zealand has and we’ve got to find a more robust basis for carrying it forward.”
Mr Groser met his Indonesian counterpart, Mari Pangestu, on Sunday.
He later predicted restoring confidence in New Zealand’s two certifying authorities would be a “medium-term” issue to resolve.
New Zealand has only the two certifying authorities, and Indonesia no longer recognises either.
The certifications are provided by New Zealand Islamic Meat Management and the Federation of Islamic Associations (FIA).
Tjeppy Sudjana, director-general of livestock production at the Agriculture Ministry, has said an Islamic clerical body, the Ulema Council (MUI), carried out a complete evaluation on halal certifying bodies in New Zealand and it recognised none.
Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said on June 4 that Indonesia banned imports of beef from New Zealand after the MUI said on March 25 it did not recognise any NZ certification.
But it has since become clear that the MUI’s letter was just a warning that new halal standards would come into force in October.
Thomas Sembiring, executive director of the Indonesian Meat Importer Association, has said the MUI issued a letter last Friday to clarify that until new halal certification rules were put into effect on October 1, all imported beef from Australia and New Zealand were halal.
Fonterra senior trade strategist Ken Geard today told NZPA that all its products going to Indonesia were halal-certified, and that would not change until October 1.
“This is not just an issue with New Zealand … the Indonesians have decided to revise their system of halal certification, and that is having an impact not just in the dairy world,” he said.
“We’re trying to work through the issue with the Indonesians so our product can continue to enter Indonesia, appropriately halal-certified to their satisfaction.”
Mr Geard indicated that New Zealand Islamic Meat Management mainly certified meat, and the Federation of Islamic Associations (FIA) did most of the dairy exports.
“We have, currently, a certifier,” he said.
Part of the work being done by Fonterra was how the existing system would fit with any future system of certification.
“That’s not remotely settled, as yet,” he said.
“Certainly the revision will include the present certification process and the present people who do the certifying.”
Fonterra had experience in other Islamic markets, but Indonesia was proposing new systems.
Asked whether he saw any similarities to problems which coincidentally arose after Malaysia decided it was going to become a global hub for halal certification, Mr Geard said: “What we’re dealing with here is something to do with Indonesia alone”.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country.
Mr Apriyantono said last year that law changes would help Indonesia become one of the world’s leading producers of halal food and beverages.
And a colleague, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris said existing regulations allowed for inconsistencies in halal certification.
“Therefore, we need a law that provides a guarantee on halal products comprehensively, ranging from a product’s ingredients, its storage, the production process, packing process, all the way to a product’s distribution chain,” he told Indonesian parliamentarians.
Source:3news.com.nz