Why US Food Manufacturers Are Pursuing IFANCA Certification

Updated on September 21, 2026.

US food and beverage exporters have until October 17, 2026 to hold halal certification for products sold in Indonesia, a deadline set under Government Regulation No. 42 of 2024 and reported by Asia Pacific Food Industry in November 2025. For that market, certification has stopped being a marketing decision. It is a condition of entry.

US food manufacturers pursue halal certification from accredited bodies such as IFANCA because destination-market regulation requires it. Indonesia set an October 17, 2026 deadline for imported food and beverages, Asia Pacific Food Industry reported in November 2025. BPJPH listed five U.S. halal certifying bodies, IFANCA among them, as fully accredited, per USDA GAIN report ID2024-0005 of October 9, 2024.

The Rule That Made It Mandatory

The regime arrived in stages. Government Regulation No. 39/2021, Article 139, required three groups of products to be halal-certified beginning October 17, 2024, according to USDA Foreign Agricultural Service GAIN report ID2024-0005 of October 9, 2024. Two of those groups are food and beverages, and the raw materials, food additives and processing aids for food and beverages. That second group covers inputs, not only finished products.

The scope has kept moving. Indonesia notified Halal Product Assurance Agency Decree No. 307/2025 to the World Trade Organization on May 6, 2026. Per USDA FAS GAIN report ID2026-0023 of May 21, 2026, the decree generally exempts fresh, unprocessed fruit and beverage products, requires processed products to be certified, and introduces requirements for seafood, dried fruit and products containing beeswax. Under the decree, only fresh seafood is exempt. Frozen, dried or salted seafood will require halal certification. The decree was enacted on November 20, 2025, and the same report states it will not be enforced until a date that is not known.

Certification Is Eligibility, Not Outcome

The commercial pull is real. DinarStandard’s State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2025/26, dated June 2, 2026 on DinarStandard’s website, values the halal food sector at US$1.53 trillion in 2024 and projects US$2.06 trillion by 2029. Indonesia is one market inside that total where entry now turns on documentation the destination regulator accepts.

What a certificate does is narrower than sales decks suggest. It makes a product eligible for sale in a market that requires certification. It does not create a buyer, win shelf space or move volume. Reading what a certificate actually covers is a separate skill from obtaining one.

USDA FAS set out two routes for producers, who should apply “either directly with the Indonesian government or through an accredited U.S. HCB.” The report, dated October 9, 2024, records that on March 1 BPJPH listed five U.S. halal certifying bodies as fully accredited for U.S. products destined for Indonesia, IFANCA among them. A foreign certificate works only where the certifying body holds a mutual recognition agreement with BPJPH and its standards align with Indonesian requirements, Asia Pacific Food Industry reported in November 2025. The Halal Times has reported on a letter of intent with Indonesia covering American halal meat exports, a reminder that certificates are not the only instrument here.

Accreditation Is Scope-Bound

An accreditation is not a general license. On Indonesia, the 2024 USDA report states that IFANCA “is accredited to halal certify food, beverages, drugs/pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chemical products, and biological products,” and that Indonesia’s accreditation of the five U.S. bodies “permits them to halal certify products/services within their approved scopes that are produced in the United States (from any state/territory); however, it does not permit them to halal certify products/services from other origins to Indonesia.”

For a company running plants in Mexico, Canada or Europe, that second quote decides which facilities can ship to Indonesia. It is a sourcing question before a certification question. Indonesia has also extended halal certification requirements past the factory gate, into logistics and distribution.

Recognition Can Be Withdrawn

Accreditation and recognition are separate acts, and both can be taken back. In an announcement effective February 19, 2025, Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) withdrew recognition from three foreign halal certification bodies, in France, Croatia and China.

The cost did not land on the certifiers. JAKIM gave companies holding certificates from those three bodies until August 19, 2025 “to obtain halal certification from other halal certification bodies recognised by JAKIM.” Six months to find another recognized body and re-certify a product range. That exposure is what turns the choice of certifier into a regulatory-risk decision.

What IFANCA’s Own Documents Record

IFANCA was founded in 1982 and works from Des Plaines, Illinois. It describes itself this way: “A not-for-profit organization committed to helping consumers and industry source authentic halal products.” Its mark is the Crescent-M service mark.

The ANAB Accreditation Certificate

The ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) certificate on file for IFANCA, certificate ID HEECASSP, records a scope granted March 17, 2020. It states that IFANCA “Fulfills the requirements of ISO/IEC 17065:2012…” and covers “Halal Product Certification Services as per OIC SMIIC 2:2019…” The scope granted that day names halal food across three processing categories, halal chemical and biochemical manufacturing, beverages, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, cosmetics, textiles and clothing.

The certificate is explicit about its own limits: “This certificate is valid only when accompanied by a current scope of accreditation.” It points that check to www.anab.org. Accreditation certificates carry expiry dates and separate scope documents. Confirm a certifier’s current scope with the accreditation body rather than assume a granted scope still stands.

What IFANCA States About Itself

As listed on its accreditations page in September 2026, IFANCA is accredited by ANAB (US), BPJPH (Indonesia), EIAC (UAE), GAC (GCC), HAK, and PNAC (Pakistan), and recognized by JAKIM (Malaysia), MUIS (Singapore), SASO and SFDA (Saudi Arabia), IMANOR (Morocco), PHA (Pakistan), the Saudi Halal Center, Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health and CICOT (Thailand). The BPJPH certificate linked there is dated April 5, 2024, with a stated validity of 2024 to 2028. Several of those authorities publish registers that can be checked directly, and BPJPH’s is at bpjph.halal.go.id/search/data_lhln/.

IFANCA publishes its certification in five steps: application, agreement and price quote, technical review, on-site audit, and final review, decision and certification. The audit sits at step four, so plan for an inspection, not a document exchange.

What A Manufacturer Has To Verify

• The certifier’s current scope, confirmed with the accreditation body rather than the certifier.
• The destination regulator’s own register of accredited bodies, where one is published.
• Product category against the specific scope line. Pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and chemical products sit on lines separate from food and beverage.
• Origin of every shipping facility. Indonesia’s accreditation of the US bodies covers goods produced in the United States, not plants abroad.
• Whether the product sits inside or outside the exemption. Decree No. 307/2025 brings frozen, dried and salted seafood, dried fruit and beeswax-containing products into scope.
• Audit readiness before the purchase order date, since an on-site audit is part of the process.

USDA FAS recommends that U.S. industry representatives review the list of products requiring halal certification attached to GAIN report ID2026-0023, to inform planned shipments. As ordinary diligence, ask your certifier for its current scope document in writing and check it against the products you intend to ship.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an IFANCA certificate cover exports to Malaysia?

JAKIM recognizes foreign halal certification bodies for the Malaysian market. Recognition and accreditation are different acts by different kinds of authority. IFANCA lists JAKIM among the authorities that recognize it, on its accreditations page. Confirm that against JAKIM’s own published list before planning a shipment, rather than relying on a certifier’s page.

What is the difference between accreditation and recognition?

Accreditation is an assessment of the certifier against a standard by an accreditation body. IFANCA’s ANAB certificate records assessment against ISO/IEC 17065:2012 under the OIC SMIIC 2:2019 scheme, with a scope granted March 17, 2020. Recognition is a destination regulator accepting that certifier’s certificates for its own market. Both carry dates, and recognition can be withdrawn: JAKIM withdrew recognition from three foreign bodies effective February 19, 2025.

Are nuts and fruit exempt from Indonesia’s halal certification requirement?

Under Halal Product Assurance Agency Decree No. 307/2025, nuts are exempt even when roasted, but the exemption ends once another ingredient such as salt, flavoring or honey is added, according to USDA FAS GAIN report ID2026-0023 of May 21, 2026. The decree generally exempts fresh, unprocessed fruit, requires processed products to be certified, and introduces certification requirements for dried fruit. Indonesia’s list of exempt ingredients is Ministry of Religious Affairs Decree No. 1360/2021.