Jakarta (Kemenag) --- The Halal Product Assurance Body (BPJPH) of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (MORA) has revoked the halal certificate for fruit juice products with the Nabidz trademark. The Head of BPJPH Muhammad Aqil Irham said that this revocation was based on the results of an investigation by the BPJPH Supervisory Team which found violations in the process of halal certification for the product.

Based on the investigation carried out, it was found that business owner/business actor and the assistant of the halal product process (PPH) deliberately manipulated the data for the Nabidz halal certification application.

"For violations committed by business actor with the initials 'BY', BPJPH has imposed sanction in the form of revoking the halal certificate with number ID311100037606120523 with Grape Juice products starting from August 15, 2023," said Aqil Irham in Jakarta, Tuesday (22/8/2023 ).

"Meanwhile, for the violation committed by the PPH Assistant with the initials 'AS', BPJPH has imposed sanctions by revoking the Registration Number of the PPH Companion," said Aqil.

Aqil explained, previously, BPJPH had deployed a Supervisory Team after complaints and viral news in the community related to claims about the Nabidz trademarked halal wine. Aqil emphasized that products with the Nabidz trademark that are certified by BPJPH was juice or fruit juice product, and not wine product.

Juice or fruit juice, is one type of product that can be certified through the self-declare mechanism (statement of business actors). This is because fruit juice is included in one of the non-risk products. Based on the provisions, this must then be verified by the PPH Facilitator to ensure product halalness.

"However, based on the investigation results of the Supervisory Team, the verification process through this assistance was not carried out by AS as PPH Assistant," explained Aqil.

In fact, according to Aqil, AS already knows that the process of making Nabidz fruit juice is through a fermentation process. Supposedly, if the assistant knows this, he can stop the process, and he advises business actor to register the product through the regular halal certification.

"Because, if there is fermentation, it means that a chemical process has been carried out, which requires a laboratory test that must be carried out by the Halal Inspection Agency (LPH)," he explained.

However, instead of stopping the certification process, AS is known to have manipulated halal certification registration data. "This is clearly not justifiable. As a penalty, we have revoked the permission of AS to be a Halal Assistant," said Aqil.

Meanwhile, business actors with the initials BY committed a violation in the form of placing a halal label on a different product on the halal certificate. The halal label for grape juice product is deliberately placed by business actors on wine product with the brand Nabidz.

The decision to revoke the halal certificate was given to business actor on 16 August 2023 along with the signing of a statement regarding the willingness to withdraw all Nabidz products labeled as halal from circulation.

"If a business actor still wants to sell his product, according to the regulation, he must include non-halal information on his product. Also, to state the percentage of alcohol on the product," continued Aqil.

Regarding this incident, Aqil appealed to all to comply with all laws and regulations. This is because halal certification is not just a mechanism for fulfilling administrative obligations, but rather as a form of commitment to regulations that must be obeyed and legally accountable.

"This is very important for us to emphasise considering that halal certificates are not just an administrative status, but as a standard that must be applied continuously, so that products are really consistently halal," he explained.

This incident, he continued, also proved the importance of education, commitment and awareness of the responsibilities of business actors and all involved in implementing halal certification services in the implementation of JPH which has become a broad ecosystem and involves many actors. Also, the importance of continuous guidance and supervision of JPH.

Aqil also appreciated the report submitted by the public regarding the case. According to him, participation of the community is needed. This is because the implementation of JPH has a very broad scope, involves many actors, and cover very large range of product types and variants.

In accordance with the provisions of Law Number 33 Year 2014 concerning Halal Product Guarantee Article 53, it is stated that the community can participate in the implementation of JPH. Community participation can be in the form of participating in socialization regarding JPH, and overseeing halal products and products in circulation. Community participation in overseeing or supervising halal products and products circulating is in the form of complaints or reporting to BPJPH. []