Halal Certification from 18 October 2026: What It Means for a PT PMA
As of 18 October 2026, Indonesia enters the next stage of mandatory halal certification: the transition period for a number of product categories ends on 17 October.
Coverage of this stage usually describes it as certification for cosmetics and small-business products. That description tells a PT PMA owner little. Some categories do fall under the October deadline, but for food and beverages the deadlines for medium and large businesses already expired back in 2024.
Legal basis
The requirement rests on two acts. Law No. 33/2014 on Halal Product Assurance established that goods imported, circulated and sold within Indonesia must carry a halal certificate. Government Regulation PP No. 42/2024 set out the procedure and phasing: the obligation is introduced in waves by product category, from 2019 to 2034.
The obligation arises from the circulation of the product. The owner's nationality and religion have no bearing on it.
Deadlines for medium and large businesses expired in 2024
The phasing is tied to the size of the business. For micro and small enterprises, the transition period for food and beverages ends on 17 October 2026 - this is the date usually mentioned. For medium and large businesses, the same period for food, beverages, slaughter products and slaughter services ended on 17 October 2024.
The size of a business is determined by capital. The law sets the micro-enterprise threshold at Rp 1 billion, small at Rp 5 billion, medium at Rp 10 billion, in all cases excluding land and buildings. The minimum investment requirements for a PT PMA are set above these thresholds, so foreign companies do not qualify as micro or small enterprises.
For PT PMA companies in food service or food production, this means their deadline already passed in October 2024. Since 2026, BPJPH has had a separate regulation on administrative sanctions, and the agency estimates its own oversight staff at approximately six hundred inspectors.
The law singles out food and beverage imports separately: here the deadline is 17 October 2026, subject to mutual recognition agreements for certificates.
Categories falling under the October deadline
The transition period ends on 17 October 2026 for the following categories:
cosmetics
chemical products and genetically engineered products
traditional medicines, quasi-drugs and dietary supplements
clothing, headwear and accessories
household health products, household equipment, worship supplies, stationery and office equipment
class A risk medical devices
raw materials, food additives and processing aids for food and beverage production
food and beverages from micro and small enterprises, as well as imported goods
The list covers most of the sectors where foreign companies operate in Bali: skincare cosmetics, clothing and swimwear, jewelry and accessories, household goods, supplements, imports. The requirement applies to imported products on the same basis as local ones.
If a product cannot be halal
The question comes up for owners of a bar serving pork, a liquor store, or importers of cosmetics containing animal-derived ingredients. The law does not require that all products in the country be halal: Article 2 of PP 42/2024 exempts products made from prohibited materials from the certification requirement, but obliges them to carry a label stating that they are not halal.
Difficulties arise where a product has neither a certificate nor such a label.
Medicines and medical devices
The deadlines for these categories differ.
Category | Deadline |
|---|---|
Traditional and natural medicines, quasi-drugs, dietary supplements | 17 October 2026 |
Over-the-counter medicines, including those with restricted distribution | 17 October 2029 |
Potent medicines, excluding psychotropic substances | 17 October 2034 |
Class A risk medical devices | 17 October 2026 |
Class B risk medical devices | 17 October 2029 |
Class C risk medical devices | 17 October 2034 |
The category of a specific product has to be checked separately: there is an eight-year difference between class A risk and class B risk.
How certification works
The application is submitted through the government's SIHALAL system. BPJPH, an agency under the Ministry of Religious Affairs, reviews the documents and forwards the case to an LPH - an accredited body that inspects the product and the production process. The results are then reviewed at a fatwa session: halal status is determined by the Indonesian Ulema Council, and by law the decision must be made within three working days. The certificate is issued by BPJPH.
Required documents include the NIB, a list of products and ingredients, the company's internal halal procedures, an application and a registration form. Finished products with a shelf life of more than seven days additionally require BPOM approval, and restaurants must provide a menu, data on kitchens and outlets, and confirmation of ingredient purchases. We covered this in detail in the stages, documents and cost of halal certification.
The company must appoint a halal supervisor - an employee responsible for compliance with the standards, who must be Muslim and complete official training. Where the company has no such specialist of its own, an external one is brought in.
In our experience, the full cycle takes about four weeks from the moment a complete package of documents is submitted. Most of the time goes into preparation: checking the composition, the documentation on raw materials, and the description of production processes.
The certificate does not need to be renewed regularly. But it must be updated if the product's composition or production technology changes.
Sanctions
The decree on administrative sanctions was signed on 11 May and promulgated on 5 June 2026. It provides for four measures:
a written warning
an administrative fine
revocation of the halal certificate
withdrawal of the product from circulation
The measures apply progressively, starting with a written warning; if the violation is not remedied, the sanction becomes stricter. BPJPH Deputy Head for Oversight Chuzaemi Abidin has confirmed this publicly.
The agency plans to strengthen import controls: according to its data, inspectors already work at border checkpoints and warehouses, among other places, and after October they will also inspect products and raw materials arriving from abroad.
Preparing for certification
Determine which size category the company falls into. This decides whether the 2026 deadline still applies to its products or has already passed.
Break down the product range by category. The category is determined by composition and purpose, not by brand name; some items may fall under the October deadline, others under 2029 or 2034.
Check the composition and the supply chain. This covers not only the finished product but also the raw materials and processes - for cosmetics and chemical products this is usually the most labor-intensive step.
Choose a path: certification, or circulating the product with a label stating that it is not halal.
Appoint and train a halal supervisor. Training takes time, so it is more convenient to start it in parallel with gathering the documents.
How we can help
We handle halal certification support in Indonesia: we determine which deadline applies to a specific product, prepare the package of documents and coordinate the audit with an accredited LPH.
If you produce, import or sell products in Indonesia, it is best to start with a list of your products: it shows which items require certification this year and which are subject to later deadlines. We can help with reviewing your product range and preparing the documents.
