FK UII Prepares Human Resources for Guaranteeing Halal Products to Welcome MEA 2015

The total Muslim population in the world is currently estimated at 1,9 billion people or 23% of the world's population. The global market for halal products is estimated to reach US$ 580 billion per year. Of this market, it is estimated that 5% or US$8 billion are agricultural products.

This is a potential market for halal products. Moreover, Indonesia, with a Muslim population of 87,3% or around 160 million, has a potential market share for halal products with a transaction value of up to $30 billion or the equivalent of Rp.360 trillion. In the ASEAN region, Indonesia's market potential is the biggest market in the 2015 Asean Economic Community (AEC) era. This has encouraged ASEAN countries to wish to register their products to obtain halal certification from the MUI (LPPOM). Compare that with Taiwan, a non-Muslim country that is very concerned about the halal certification. Moreover, Taiwan has a market share of around $ 5 million annually in Indonesia or around Rp. 63 billion per year.

Assurance of halal products is a very sensitive issue in food, beverage, cosmetics, medicines and clothing products, accessories, sports equipment or other tools used in daily life. Since 1998 with the issue of lard in a flavoring product until now it has continued to exist and has even increased along with increasing awareness of adherents of Islam in Indonesia.

The problem of guaranteeing halal products will continue to be a national issue because there is no clear legal regulation. Moreover, the government and DPR versions of the Halal Product Guarantee Bill are still not the same and the MUI's position has become marginalized. Therefore, in order to realize the guarantee of halal products in this beloved country, a strong collaboration is needed between the government, MUI, universities, the community and industry and business players so that the protection of Muslims runs effectively. Don't let the MUI be used as a labeling tool only for halal products. It is hoped that the halal label can be guaranteed the integrity of the halal guarantee at any time through sensitive traceability, valid and reliable authentication, and open access to information for consumers to avoid fraud in halal labeling. Generally, industry players commit cheating by sending samples made from halal raw materials during the first halal registration, but after obtaining a halal label, the raw materials used are replaced with illegal ones on the grounds that they are cheaper.

According to data until this year several universities already have halal centers such as UHAMKA, UMI Makasar, IPB, UGM, UNBRAW and UIN. The most advanced institutions in the process of inspecting halal products are LPPOM and Halal Global Research in Bogor. According to data from the MUI (LPPOM) until this year there were 75 HR auditors at the central LPPOM MUI and 662 HR auditors at provincial LPPOM. Given the importance of this event, FK UII sent several of its lecturers and laboratories to take part in halal product workshops and seminars; Islamic Perspective at FK Yarsi Jakarta, 15-17 December 2014. During the workshop, many things were gained, including criticality analysis techniques for halal products with GC-MS, FITR, RT PCR and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)/MiniSeq. Hopefully the HR sent consisting of Dr. Syaefudin Ali Akhmad MSc, dr. Sufi Desirini, MSc, dr. Luasiana, Afivudien, Mujiyanto, and Ahsan will later be able to strengthen the establishment of the Halal Science Research/Center at UII which we love through collaboration with FMIPA. (SAA)