Indonesia potential market for halal meat

Antara News, Sunday, July 25, 2010 02:02 WIB | National

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - As the biggest Muslim country in the world , Indonesia is a potential market for `halal` meat from other countries because domestic meat production is not yet able to meet the national needs, an importer said.

"Indonesia is a potential market for halal (edible under Islamic law) meat exporting countries because domestic meat production falls far short of national needs," Executive Director of the Indonesian Meat Importers Association (ASPIDI) Thomas Sembiring said during a dialog on halal products here on Saturday.

He was a speaker at the dialog which was held in connection with the International Halal Business and Food (IHBF) Expo 2010 at the Jakarta Convention Center.

Thomas said that several countries had obtained accreditation from the Indonesian Ulema Concil (MUI) for halal meat export to Indonesia. Countries which had obtained MUI accreditation were Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Ireland.

The Indonesian government saw three aspects to provide accreditation for a country with regard to its `halal` meat exports, namely animal diseases, food security system and the halal say of slaughtering the animals.

Not all abattoirs of exporting countries could export their meat to Indonesia. The number of slaughter houses with accreditation was only 25 in New Zealand, five in Brazil, two in Ireland and 56 in Australia.

All exporting countries are also required to enclose two certificates of health and halal ones, he said.

He said that about 100 thousand tons of meat were exported to Indonesia in 2009, which was an increase if compared with that in the previous year which stood at 90,000 tons.

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