How to Get Halal Certification for Your Products: A Step-by-Step Guide

To get Halal certification for a product, a company chooses a certification body recognized in every market where it plans to sell, submits the full formula and supplier documents for each ingredient, replaces any non-Halal inputs, passes an on-site audit and a Shariah committee review, and then keeps the certificate through surveillance audits and renewals.

This article was first published in March 2022. It has been updated with a certifier-neutral step-by-step guide, a comparison of Indonesian, Malaysian, UAE, Saudi and U.S. requirements, Indonesia’s Oct. 17, 2026 deadline, official fee schedules, a documents checklist and the most common reasons applications stall.

Reviewed by Hafiz Maqsood Ahmed.

The stakes are commercial. Muslim consumers spent $1.5 trillion on food in 2024, up 6.3 percent from 2023, and that spending is projected to reach $2.1 trillion by 2029, according to the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2025/26. Indonesia, the largest of those markets, begins requiring Halal certification for imported food and beverages on Oct. 18, 2026. For a manufacturer, the question is no longer whether a Halal logo helps sales but which certificate opens which border.

A certificate is not a single global license. It confirms that one body has checked specific products, made at specific sites, against its own standard. That is the core of what Halal certification means for a buyer, and it is why the first decision a company makes, the choice of certifier, matters more than any other.

Who needs Halal certification, and where it is mandatory

Halal certification is voluntary in the United States and most of Europe, but it is a legal condition of sale for many products in Indonesia, the Gulf and Malaysia. A company selling only to U.S. grocery chains certifies to win shoppers; a company shipping to Jakarta, Riyadh or Dubai certifies to clear customs.

• Indonesia. Law No. 33 of 2014 on Halal Product Assurance and Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024 phase in mandatory certification. Medium and large food and beverage makers had to comply by Oct. 17, 2024. Micro and small businesses and imported food, beverages and slaughter services have until Oct. 17, 2026, according to Indonesia’s Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency (BPJPH). Products that are not Halal can still be sold if the packaging clearly says so, BPJPH told the World Trade Organization in June 2025.
• United Arab Emirates. Under Cabinet Decree No. 10 of 2014, establishments that make Halal claims need a certificate for final products and their raw materials from a certification body registered with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT).
• Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) requires a Halal slaughter certificate for meat, poultry and raw gelatin, and a Halal certificate for products containing animal fats, rennet, gelatin or meat derivatives, issued by bodies designated by the Saudi Halal Center, according to its food clearance requirements.
• Malaysia. Any product sold with a Halal label must carry certification from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM), a state religious authority or a foreign body JAKIM recognizes, under the Trade Descriptions (Certification and Marking of “Halal”) Order 2011.

The nine steps to certify a product

Every major certifier follows the same arc: scope, documents, review, audit, decision, maintenance. The order below works for a first-time applicant in any country, whether the goal is a U.S. retail shelf or an export market.

1. Define the scope. List the exact products, brand names and production sites to be certified, and every country where they will be sold. The target markets decide everything that follows.
2. Pick a body recognized in those markets. A certificate is only as useful as the authorities that accept it. Before signing, check the importing country’s own list: BPJPH’s database of foreign halal bodies, JAKIM’s list of recognized foreign certification bodies, MoIAT’s register in the UAE and the Saudi Halal Center’s list. Our guide to choosing a halal certifier covers reach, seal recognition and service.
3. Build the ingredient dossier. For every raw material and processing aid, collect a specification sheet, the supplier’s name and site, and either a valid halal certificate or a signed source declaration. Flavors, emulsifiers, enzymes, gelatin, glycerin, colors and release agents need the most attention.
4. Apply and agree on scope and price. Submit the application with company details, product list and target markets. Most bodies send a quote and a service agreement before the detailed review begins.
5. Clear the document review. The certifier’s technical staff check each ingredient, the process flow chart and product names, then return a list of items to fix. Replacing a supplier or reformulating usually happens here.
6. Set up a halal assurance system. Write procedures for purchasing, receiving, segregation, cleaning, traceability, labeling and training, and name the people responsible. Indonesia requires a designated halal supervisor who is Muslim, and medium, large and foreign businesses must show that person’s training and competency certificates, according to the BPJPH regular-certification brochure.
7. Pass the facility audit. An auditor inspects storage, production lines, cleaning, packaging and records, and checks that what is on the shelf matches what was declared. Some certifiers now run remote halal audits for parts of this step.
8. Get the committee decision. The audit report goes to a technical and Shariah committee, not the auditor, for the final decision. In Indonesia, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Fatwa Commission issues the halal determination before BPJPH issues the certificate.
9. Register, label and maintain. Use the certifier’s logo only as the agreement allows, register the certificate in export markets where required, notify the certifier before changing any ingredient or supplier, and prepare for surveillance audits and renewal.

Documents checklist

Missing paperwork, not failed audits, causes most delays. The Halal Certification Company (HCC), a certifier, says on its application page that origin statements and cleaning validation are the usual holdups. Have these ready before applying:

• Business registration or license, and the site addresses to be certified
• Product list with brand names, as they will appear on labels
• Full formulation for each product, including processing aids and carriers
• Specification sheets and supplier names for every ingredient
• Halal certificates for status-sensitive inputs, or signed origin declarations
• Process flow chart from receiving to dispatch
• Written cleaning and sanitation procedures, with validation records for shared lines
• Food-contact packaging specifications
• Halal assurance or management system manual
• Name, résumé and training records of the halal supervisor or internal halal team
• For Indonesia: a business identification number (NIB) and an account on the SIHALAL portal; foreign applicants also need a letter of authorization, BPJPH says

How the major halal schemes compare

The main difference between schemes is legal force: Indonesia and the Gulf states regulate halal at the border, while the United States leaves it to private certifiers. Because not every certifier is recognized everywhere, exporters should map each target market to its authority before applying.

The OIC’s standards arm, SMIIC, publishes the closest thing to a common rulebook: OIC/SMIIC 1:2019 for halal food, OIC/SMIIC 2:2019 for the bodies that certify it and OIC/SMIIC 3:2019 for the accreditation bodies that oversee them. In the UAE, MoIAT lists UAE.S 2055-1 for food and UAE.S 2055-4 for cosmetics among its approved standards. For companies starting with Southeast Asia, our walkthrough of JAKIM certification in Malaysia sets out the domestic process in detail.

How long halal certification takes

Certifiers quote anywhere from about 10 days to 10 weeks, and the clock starts only when the file is complete. The American Halal Foundation (AHF) says certification takes three to 10 weeks depending on the number of products and the complexity of the business. HCC says issuance commonly takes about 10 days from a clean, complete application.

Indonesia’s regular route takes longer to plan because three institutions handle each file: BPJPH verifies documents and issues the certificate, an accredited inspection body audits the plant and the MUI Fatwa Commission rules on halal status. Companies with many products, animal-derived inputs or several sites should expect the longer end of any quoted range.

What halal certification costs

Only government schemes publish fixed fees; private certifiers quote case by case. The main cost drivers are the number of products and ingredients, the number of sites, travel for auditors, the number of export markets that need separate registration and the cost of reformulating or replacing suppliers.

Indonesia publishes the most detailed schedule. The application fee is Rp300,000 (about $17) for micro and small businesses, Rp5 million (about $280) for medium businesses and Rp12.5 million (about $700) for large businesses, per certificate, according to the BPJPH brochure. Inspection fees come on top, calculated as auditor days multiplied by unit costs set in BPJPH’s tariff decree; for foreign businesses, travel and lodging are charged at cost. Qualifying micro and small businesses that use the self-declare route pay nothing. Dollar figures use the exchange rate of Oct. 13, 2026.

In Malaysia, JAKIM sets an annual service charge by category — small industry, small and medium industry, and multinational for manufacturers, with separate rates for restaurants, hotels and slaughterhouses — and collects it for the certificate’s two-year term, according to the Halal Malaysia portal’s certification page. The same page says every renewal is charged again and that the applicant pays for any laboratory tests on ingredients. JAKIM publishes the rate table itself as an image on that page. Private certifiers whose application pages we reviewed, including AHF, HCC and Halal Certification Europe (HCE), do not publish prices and offer quotes instead.

Why applications stall or fail

Most rejections trace back to a handful of ingredients and paperwork gaps that can be found before applying. These are the issues certifiers and regulators cite most often:

• Undocumented ingredients. A missing supplier certificate for one flavor or emulsifier can hold up an entire product line.
• Animal-derived inputs. Gelatin, enzymes, rennet, glycerin and animal fats must come from halal-slaughtered animals or non-animal sources. Saudi clearance rules name these inputs specifically.
• Ethanol in flavors and beverages. MUI’s Fatwa No. 10 of 2018 rejects ethanol from the alcoholic-drinks industry entirely but accepts other ethanol in beverages below 0.5 percent. Other certifiers set different limits, so the threshold depends on which body reviews the product.
• Product names and packaging. MUI’s Fatwa No. 44 of 2020 lists names, shapes and packaging that cannot be certified even when the contents qualify.
• Shared lines without validated cleaning. Shared equipment is generally acceptable, but auditors want written, tested procedures that prevent cross-contact.
• The wrong certifier for the market. A valid certificate from a body that the importing country does not recognize will not clear customs.
• Unreported changes. Swapping a supplier after certification without telling the certifier can void the approval. IFANCA says clients must keep complying and may face surveillance audits.

Slaughter rules add another layer for meat and poultry. Certifiers differ on stunning: AHF’s published requirements accept stunning if the animal is alive at the moment of slaughter, while other certifiers reject stunning altogether. Exporters should confirm which position their target market’s authority takes.

What a certifier looks for: lessons from ISA

The review starts with the product, not the paperwork, according to Yassine Tebbal, quality assurance director at Islamic Services of America (ISA), which BPJPH lists among the five U.S. bodies it recognizes. In a 2022 interview with The Halal Times, Tebbal, a food scientist who had then worked at ISA for more than 14 years and was earlier a quality assurance manager at Coca-Cola, said ISA first asks applicants “what product or products they want to certify,” because “the certification process primarily depends on the product.”

For meat and poultry, ISA reviewed the slaughter method and plant processes before any audit, Tebbal said. For other foods, flavors and colors drew scrutiny because they can carry alcohol. ISA’s sequence ran from application to service agreement, then a review of product lists, ingredient specifications, flow charts and product names, then a facility audit, with a technical and fiqh committee making the final call.

Even a simple product can be complicated. “The Halal review process can be complex,” Tebbal said, pointing to yogurt, where enzymes must be plant-based or halal-certified and where “some yogurt contains gelatin derived from pork which is impermissible according to Islam.” His summary for applicants: “the steps are straightforward however additional time and effort are needed.”

Indonesia’s deadline and the U.S. trade agreement

Indonesia says its Oct. 17, 2026 deadline stands, and a new trade agreement with the United States has not removed certification for food. At a World Trade Organization committee meeting on March 5, 2026, BPJPH head Ahmad Haikal Hasan said no further extension or transition period is planned. Our analysis of Indonesia’s halal deadline covers industry readiness.

The U.S.-Indonesia Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, published by the U.S. Trade Representative on Feb. 19, 2026, commits Indonesia to exempt U.S. manufactured goods such as cosmetics and medical devices from halal certification and labeling, to exempt non-animal food products and animal feed, to accept U.S. slaughter practices that comply with Islamic law and to speed recognition of U.S. certifiers.

BPJPH’s reading is narrower. “Reciprocal cooperation is not the abolition of halal obligations,” Hasan said in a Feb. 23, 2026 statement (translated from Indonesian). The agency said U.S. products subject to the mandate still need a certificate, either from a recognized U.S. body or from Indonesia, and named five U.S. certifiers it recognizes: IFANCA, AHF, ISA, Halal Transactions of Omaha and the Islamic Society of the Washington Area. BPJPH’s public database listed 126 recognized foreign halal bodies on Oct. 13, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Can a plant that also makes non-halal products be certified?

Generally yes. HCC says a dedicated halal plant is not required, but auditors will check segregation, scheduling and validated cleaning between runs. Requirements for lines that also handle pork vary by certifier, so ask before applying.

Does the certificate cover the company or each product?

Certificates cover named products made at named sites. Adding a product, changing a recipe or moving production to a new plant usually requires an amendment and sometimes a new audit.

Does a company need Muslim owners to be certified?

No. The schemes reviewed for this article set rules for ingredients, processes and staff, not ownership. Some require specific roles to be filled by Muslims, such as Indonesia’s halal supervisor.

Is one certificate enough for every export market?

Only if the issuing body is recognized by each importing authority. Many exporters hold one certificate from a body with broad recognition and then register it separately in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Gulf.

Related reading: Indonesia Delays Mandatory Halal Certification to 2028, LPPOM Urges Businesses to Prepare Now