2026 Indonesia New Rule: Mandatory Halal Certification Across Apparel, Leather Goods, and Handicrafts

Not just food! Indonesia''s Halal regulation comprehensively upgraded - an interpretation of the latest market-access rules for consumer goods going to Indonesia

Major change for going to Indonesia | footwear, apparel, bags, and leather accessories must be certified by 2026, and many enterprises may be unable to clear customs

From bonus point to hard threshold: Halal certification becomes the new key to unlocking Indonesia''s trillion-dollar consumer-goods market

Heavyweight | In 2026 Indonesia issues another new policy, officially adding consumer goods to the mandatory Halal certification list

Countdown warning! Indonesia''s 2026 new policy lands: these products all require mandatory Halal certification

In past going-global thinking, the vast majority of enterprises assumed Halal certification only applied to products that directly contact the body or can be ingested, such as food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. But now this outdated mindset is completely obsolete.

According to the public notice of Indonesian Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024 (PERATURAN PEMERINTAH REPUBLIK INDONESIA NOMOR 42 TAHUN 2024): by October 2026, fashion apparel, leather products, footwear, bags and accessories, handicrafts and other mass consumer goods entering the Indonesian market will hear the countdown alarm of mandatory Halal certification. Those without certification past the deadline must be marked as "non-Halal" when entering the Indonesian market.

This is also Indonesia, following food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, once again expanding the scope of mandatory Halal certification, meaning Halal certification has officially upgraded from a vertical-industry qualification to a hard market-access threshold for consumer goods entering Indonesia.

No certification, no market. For enterprises laying out the Indonesian market and deeply cultivating the Southeast Asia going-global track, the time left for preparation is already very limited.

I. Why must apparel and leather consumer goods also obtain Halal certification?

Many enterprises are puzzled: clothing, bags, and handicrafts cannot be eaten, so why must they comply with Halal regulations?

Here a common misconception must be corrected: Halal compliance has never controlled only "products that go into the mouth", but the entire product life cycle.

Islamic-law review of consumer goods covers the full chain of raw-material selection, production processing, auxiliary additives, and warehousing and transport, with core review details including:

Whether the slaughtering and sourcing methods of animal-derived raw materials such as leather and plush comply;

Whether the glues, dyes, oils, and coating auxiliaries used in production contain prohibited ingredients such as pork derivatives or alcohol;

Whether production lines, warehouses, and transport vehicles are shared with non-Halal products, causing cross-contamination;

Whether upstream and downstream suppliers have complete qualifications, and whether all raw materials can be fully traced.

Simply put: as long as the production process involves animal raw materials or chemical auxiliaries, Halal compliance review must be completed - this is also the core reason this new policy covers all categories of consumer goods.

II. Which enterprises will be directly affected by the new policy?

This policy covers an extremely wide scope, running through the entire upstream and downstream industry chain. The following five types of enterprises must lay out plans in advance to avoid going-global risks:

1. End consumer-goods export enterprises

Manufacturing enterprises mainly producing women''s and men''s clothing, sports shoes and bags, leather goods and luggage, jewelry and accessories, household goods, and various handicrafts, and mainly exporting to the Indonesian market.

2. Brand owners and traders

Brands that have no production line of their own and operate via outsourced manufacturing; brand owners must bear supply-chain compliance responsibility, and all products on sale must be certified.

3. Upstream raw and auxiliary material suppliers

Upstream supporting enterprises providing leather fabrics, textile dyes, specialty glues, coating materials, and special packaging to major factories - they are a foundational link of compliance review.

4. Indonesia cross-border e-commerce sellers

Relevant Indonesian government departments are strengthening supervision of e-commerce platforms, including but not limited to TikTok, Shopee, and Tokopedia. Cross-border sellers on these platforms will later see the platforms sync the new rules, and uncertified products will face the risk of direct delisting and a sales ban.

5. OEM/ODM contract factories

Overseas buyers have gradually incorporated Halal certification into their procurement assessment standards; factories that have not completed the compliance upgrade will directly lose quality overseas orders in the future.

III. Short cycle, strict review - how should enterprises prepare at this stage?

With less than 5 months until the policy lands in October 2026, after deducting the cycles for document review, on-site factory audit, problem rectification, and official approval, enterprises actually have very tight preparation time. We recommend enterprises complete their compliance layout in an orderly way following these five steps:

Step 1: Inventory products and define the certification scope

Sort out the enterprise''s full-category product list, screen out the categories affected by the new policy such as apparel, footwear and bags, and leather products, and distinguish certification priorities based on raw-material recipes and production-line layout.

Step 2: Trace auxiliary materials and screen compliance risks

Focus on screening high-risk materials such as animal-derived raw materials, production glues, dyeing auxiliaries, and surface-treatment oils, and request ingredient reports and compliance certificates from upstream and downstream suppliers to avoid risk at the source.

Step 3: Build a dedicated Halal management system

Halal certification is not a single certificate, but a long-term management system. Enterprises need to improve a full set of management systems including procurement control, production isolation, warehousing zoning, dedicated logistics lines, employee training, and internal audit.

Step 4: Connect with professional certification bodies

Review standards and document requirements differ greatly across different consumer goods. We recommend consulting a compliance service provider in advance to clarify the complete BPJPH certification process, fee standards, and review cycle, and to customize a fitting plan.

Step 5: Stagger your application and reserve rectification time

As the policy nears landing, there will be large-scale concentrated enterprise applications and review queues. Applying in advance not only avoids congestion but also reserves an ample rectification cycle, avoiding last-minute scrambling that disrupts the going-global plan.

IV. Compliance is the baseline, and even more an opportunity to seize a blue ocean

It cannot be denied that mandatory Halal certification will increase enterprises'' production and operating costs in the short term, but from a long-term going-global strategy perspective, it is a highly cost-effective investment.

Indonesia has more than 280 million people and is the country with the world''s largest Halal consumer population, with a huge consumer market. At the same time, the Indonesian government is going all out to become the global Halal industry center by 2028, and local consumers'' preference for and trust in Halal-compliant products far exceed those of ordinary products.

By obtaining BPJPH Halal certification, enterprises will gain dual value:

✅ Meeting official regulatory requirements, opening up the going-global channel to the Indonesian market, and avoiding customs-clearance and delisting risks;

✅ Creating a differentiated product label, boosting brand premium, and at the same time radiating to Halal markets such as Malaysia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

V. A final word: refuse to wait passively - laying out plans in advance is the way to go

Every industry policy change eliminates the bystanders and rewards the front-runners.

The mandatory certification policy of October 2026 may seem to still have buffer time, but for Halal certification, with its complex industry chain and strict review process, the countdown has already begun.

Waiting until the policy officially lands to start the application will only trap enterprises in passive queuing, emergency rectification, and lost orders.

Rather than complying passively, it is better to lay out plans proactively.

If you have not yet completed a product risk assessment, or are unfamiliar with the BPJPH certification rules, you can contact us as early as possible for one-stop full-process service covering product assessment, system building, factory audit, and certificate application, to steadily seize the Southeast Asia consumer-goods going-global dividend.

Indonesia''s 2026 Halal new policy has arrived - are you ready?