MUI: US Businesses Risk Losses Without Indonesia's Halal Label

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The head of public relations at the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Zaitun Rasmin, has said U.S. businesses will likely continue using halal labels if they want to succeed in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.

According to Zaitun, products without halal certification could struggle to gain consumer trust in Indonesia. She said American companies are well aware of the characteristics of the Indonesian market, where demand for halal-certified goods is high.

“I am sure they would not want to risk losses by entering Indonesia without a halal label,” Zaitun said in a written statement on Tuesday, February 24, 2026.

She added that some American products may already hold halal certification in the United States. However, potential issues could arise from administrative procedures or differences in the recognition of foreign halal certification bodies compared with Indonesia’s system.

To prevent trade disruptions, Zaitun urged the Indonesian government and halal authorities to accelerate the verification and recognition process for credible foreign halal certification agencies. This, she said, would help avoid dual certification requirements that could slow trade flows.

Her remarks followed reports claiming that U.S. products would no longer need halal labels to enter Indonesia under a trade agreement signed last week by President Prabowo Subianto and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency (BPJPH) has dismissed those claims as false.

“It is not true that American products entering Indonesia do not need a halal label,” BPJPH head Ahmad Haikal Hasan said in a written statement on Tuesday.

Haikal emphasized that halal certification for U.S. imports will continue to follow Indonesian regulations and will be handled transparently.

“There is nothing confidential or hidden when it comes to halal matters. There are no violations,” he said.

He explained that halal labeling arrangements between Indonesia and the United States are governed by a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), which recognizes halal standards between BPJPH and foreign halal certification bodies in the U.S. The agreement, he noted, had already been in place before the recent Indonesia-U.S. trade deal was signed.

Under the MRA, once a recognized U.S. halalauthority issues certification, Indonesia does not need to re-examine the product’s halal status from scratch.

“It only requires registration, not a full re-certification process,” Haikal said.

Read: Indonesia's BPJPH Assures Public of Strict US Halal Standards

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