Kemenag Revokes Halal Certificate for Viral Nabidz Wine

Dream - The Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) has revoked the halal certificate for Nabidz Wine. This is because Kemenag has discovered violations in the halal certification process of the product.

Based on the investigation conducted, it was found that the business actors and the companion of the Halal Product Process (PPH) intentionally manipulated the data of the halal certification application for Nabidz.

"Regarding the violation committed by the business actor with the initials 'BY', BPJPH has imposed sanctions in the form of revoking the halal certificate with the ID number 311100037606120523 for the Grape Juice product, effective from August 15, 2023," said the Head of the Halal Product Guarantee Organizing Agency (BPJPH) Aqil Irham, on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, as quoted from the Kemenag website.

Kemenag will also impose sanctions on the PPH companion with the initials AS, who is suspected of committing the violation. Kemenag revokes the registration number of the PPH companion.

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

Aqil mentioned that previously, BPJPH had deployed a Supervisory Team after receiving complaints and viral news regarding the halal claim on Nabidz Wine. He emphasized that the Nabidz brand products certified by BPJPH are fruit juice products.

Fruit juice products are one of the types of products that can be certified through the self-declaration mechanism by business actors. This is because fruit juice is considered a non-risky product. According to the regulations, this then needs to be verified by the PPH Companion to ensure the halal status of the product.

"However, based on the investigation results of the Supervisory Team, the verification process through companionship was not carried out by Mr. AS as the PPH Companion," said Aqil.

He stated that AS was aware that the process of making Nabidz fruit juice involves fermentation. Accordingly, if he had known about this, the companion should have stopped the process and advised the business actor to register for regular halal certification.

"Because if there is fermentation, it means that there is a chemical process involved, which requires laboratory testing by the Halal Inspection Agency (LPH)," he said.

Instead of stopping the certification process, AS manipulated the halal certification registration data.

"This is clearly unacceptable. As a sanction, we have revoked AS's permission as a companion," said Aqil.

Meanwhile, the actor with the initials BY committed a violation by including a halal label on a different product in the halal certificate.

The halal label for grape juice products was intentionally included by the business actor on wine products with the Nabidz brand. The decision to revoke the halal certificate was given to the business actor on August 16, 2023, along with the signing of a letter of statement regarding the willingness to withdraw all halal-labeled Nabidz products from circulation.

"If the business actor still wants to sell their products, they must comply with the regulations by including a non-halal statement on their products. They must also indicate the alcohol content percentage," he said.

In light of this incident, Aqil urges all relevant parties to comply with all applicable regulations.

Because halal certification is not just a mere administrative obligation, but also a commitment to regulations that must be obeyed and can be legally accountable.

"This is very important to emphasize considering that halal certification is not just an administrative status, but also a standard that must be consistently applied to ensure the product's halal status," he explained.