By: Ismail ) *
Omnibus law is a law created to resolve major issues by revoking or amending several laws at once, so that it becomes simpler. Even in the Omnibus Law Bill, the Government also agreed to free certification of halal product guarantees so as not to burden micro and small scale businesses.
The attention of the Government to facilitate investment applies to all circles. One focus is on realizing effective and efficient regulation , especially in managing certification or licensing. This is certainly needed for MSME investors or actors.
Previously, rumors were also circulated about the existence of Omnibus Law, which could later eliminate the obligation to certify halal certification . This became the spotlight of the Chair of the PKS Faction in the House of Representatives Jazuli Juwaini who said that his party would be in the forefront to reject the draft bill proposed by the government.
He said, do not let the obligation to certify halal precisely be interpreted as hindering investment. But this was denied by Indonesian Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin.
Ma’ruf Amin said there was no abolition of halal certification, but what was there was to make it easier to administer halal certification.
In line with the statement of Ma’ruf Amin, the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) straightened out the issue of eliminating the obligation of halal certification for products circulating in Indonesia in the Employment Copyright Omnibus Bill. He said that this was not true.
The head of the halal registration and certification center of the Halal Product Guarantee Agency (BPJPH) Mastuki has denied the government’s intention to abolish the halal certification obligation.
Mastuki said that the direction of the adjustment was to simplify the process, not stop halal-certified obligations. Because from the beginning there was no discourse to stop halal-certified obligations.
Mastuki said that he was directly involved in the formulation of the bill. According to him, using the article on halal certification obligation is included in the list of articles to be discussed.
But in the course of discussing the Omnibus Law Bill, the article is no longer included in the list that will be deleted. Thus, the Omnibus Law Bill will not eliminate the obligation of halal certification for products circulating in Indonesia.
He said that the Omnibus Law was made to facilitate the investment process, one of which was related to halal guarantees. Where after the bill is passed then the management of halal certification will be trimmed so that it is faster.
In addition, the Omnibus law will also not provide a financial burden for SMEs who will apply for halal certification.
Ma’ruf also stated that the government had agreed to eliminate the certification of halal product guarantees so as not to burden micro and small scale businesses.
This means that at present the country is more concerned with small and medium enterprises by freeing up costs for halal certification.
This was confirmed by Executive Director of Indonesian Halal Watch Ikhsan Abdullah ensured that the Omnibus Law Bill did not remove the article on the obligation to conduct a halal certification test of a product, which is in the Halal Product Guarantee Act.
His party has also checked other lawyers and related elements that there is no abolition of the halal registration obligation for a product in the JPH Law.
He also requested that the media not be too provocative, but should develop. In fact there was not a word in the draft that halal certification was revoked.
Regarding Omnibus Law, he said that his enthusiasm should be to simplify the halal certification process as well as the assistance of SMEs. Because what is difficult in halal certification is related to administrative functions .
In the administration function, of course a simple process is needed to make it easier to carry out halal certification and administrative costs to make it affordable for small businesses with the help of government subsidies.
In addition, Ma’ruf said that President Joko Widodo’s move to ask the DPR to ratify the Omnibus Law into law was the right step. This is needed so that the policy can immediately be felt by the wider community.
Ma’ruf also denied the outstanding draft bill saying that the abolition of several articles in the halal guarantee law such as article 4, article 29, article 42 and article 44.
Article 4 of the halal guarantee law requires that all products circulating in Indonesia must be halal-certified.
Of course in the enforcement of this omnibus law, it does not conflict with Pancasila and does not contradict religious law, let alone we know that Ma’ruf Amin is one of the influential people in the MUI.
) * The author is a social political observer
