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Updated : Indonesia announced on 16 October that mandatory halal moves to 2028; the amending regulation is not yet signed.
Halal certification and the SHLN route
Indonesia has postponed mandatory halal certification to October 2028. The amending regulation is not yet signed.
Postponed to 2028
On 16 October 2026, two days before the deadline, Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs announced that the phase-in of mandatory halal certification is extended:
- Imported food, beverages and slaughter products: from 18 October 2028. The ministry tied this date to completing agreements with other countries on recognising each other's halal certificates.
- Cosmetics, health supplements, herbal medicines, quasi-drugs, chemical products, genetically engineered products and some consumer goods: from 17 October 2028.
- Medicines: unchanged.
The change is made by amending Government Regulation 42/2024. The amending regulation had not been signed when we checked; until it is published, treat the new dates as announced rather than final. The government also said it will revoke BPJPH Regulation 4/2026 and adjust the rules that implement Regulation 42/2024.
This reverses what BPJPH said on 15 September 2026, and what this page reported until 19 October: that the October 2026 deadline was final.
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What to do with the extra time
Until 2028, the main regulatory step for an imported food, supplement or cosmetic is BPOM registration, held by your Indonesian importer (see below). Full halal certification still takes three to six months, and registering a recognised foreign certificate through SHLN up to 30 working days. An exporter who files in 2027 will be ready when the requirement applies; one who waits for 2028 will not.
The packaging deadline
Separate from certification, the old MUI halal logo could only be used until 17 October 2026; after that, certified products carry the BPJPH Indonesia Halal label. The 16 October announcement does not mention the logo, so we have not moved this date. Existing packaging stock must be run down or the new label applied on subsequent production runs.
What changes, and when
Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024 set the start for imported food, beverages and slaughter products at 17 October 2026, with full enforcement from 18 October 2026. The announced amendment moves it to 18 October 2028.
When it applies, it is not a labelling requirement you can retrofit at the port: uncertified product in these categories cannot be lawfully distributed.
Two routes, and why the fast one exists
There are two ways to arrive at a certificate Indonesia will accept.
Full certification through BPJPH
The standard route: an Indonesian halal inspection body audits the production, a fatwa is issued, and BPJPH issues the certificate. Budget three to six months. If your product is going to be on shelves in Indonesia for years, this is the route you eventually want.
SHLN registration of a foreign certificate
If your product already holds a halal certificate from a foreign body that BPJPH recognises, you can register that certificate through SHLN — Sertifikat Halal Luar Negeri — rather than starting from zero.
| Processing time | Up to 30 working days |
| Government fee | IDR 800,000 |
| Filed via | ptsp.halal.go.id |
| Requires | A valid certificate from a BPJPH-recognised foreign halal body |
Two checks, not one
Recognition is granted body by body, and category by category. Both have to pass.
Is your certifier recognised?
Recognition attaches to the specific body that issued your certificate, not to your country. A certificate from a body BPJPH does not recognise is not a shortcut — it is a rejected application and a lost month.
Does the recognition cover your category?
Arrangements are concluded for specific product types: food, beverage, cosmetics, drugs, chemical products, slaughter. A body recognised for food is not automatically recognised for cosmetics. An exporter with three product lines can pass the first check and fail on two of them.
Pakistan appears on the BPJPH recognition register, which puts Pakistani exporters ahead of most of Europe and Latin America, who have no registration route at all. The register changes continuously — check your own certifier and your own category at bpjph.halal.go.id before you plan around it.
You cannot file this yourself
This is the step that stops most exporters, and it is not a formality you can hand to a freight forwarder at the port.
A foreign company cannot file an SHLN registration in its own name. It files through a local representative or importer in Indonesia, who acts as the applicant and carries the obligations that come with it.
The same principle runs through the whole Indonesian import framework. BPOM registration — an ML number for imported food, SI for supplements, NA for cosmetics, POM TI for traditional medicines — must be held by an Indonesian legal entity; a foreign company cannot register directly. Customs requires an Indonesian importer of record holding an NIB with API-U status. Halal and BPOM are separate obligations, not alternatives.
Your Indonesian partner is not a logistics decision. It is a regulatory one, and it should be settled before you quote a price.
Once the requirement applies
Once halal is mandatory for your category, BPJPH Regulation No. 2 of 2026, in force since 5 June 2026, sets penalties that escalate from written warnings to administrative fines, revocation of halal certificates or foreign registrations, product recall, temporary closure of premises, and public disclosure.
The commercial penalty arrives faster than the regulatory one. Modern-trade retailers and distributors will refuse to carry uncertified product. Your goods are not seized — they are declined at the buying desk.
The pre-shipment rule is to be revoked
BPJPH Regulation 4/2026, issued 7 August 2026, covers halal assurance for foreign products entering Indonesia. On 16 October 2026 the government announced that it will be revoked. Until the revocation is published, ask your Indonesian importer whether BPJPH still applies it to your shipments.
What this means for a Pakistani exporter
- The deadline is now October 2028, but certification still takes three to six months, or up to 30 working days through SHLN. Until then, BPOM registration through your Indonesian importer decides whether your product can be sold.
- Find out first whether your existing certifier is BPJPH-recognised. That single fact decides whether you are on a 30-working-day path or a three-to-six-month path.
- Certification attaches to product and facility, not to a shipment. Adding an SKU later is a new application.
- The Indonesian importer of record holds obligations here too. Agree in writing who is doing what before the first container.
- To be introduced to Indonesian buyers, list with us.
What this means for an Indonesian buyer
- Ask any new Pakistani supplier for their halal certificate and the name of the certifying body, then check the body against the BPJPH list yourself.
- A supplier who cannot name their certifier does not have a usable certificate.
- If you plan to import after October 2028, build the certification lead time into your launch date rather than your reorder date.
Where we fit
Registration is one of our standalone services — you do not have to buy goods from us to use it. Registration · Supplier verification
Not sure which path you are on? Tell us your certifier and product category and we will tell you.
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