HALAL BAN THREAT ON NZ MEAT EXPORTS

Indonesia is threatening millions of dollars worth of meat exports from New Zealand. It has blocked meat shipments and set a deadline of October 1 for New Zealand to fix the halal certification at the 60 meat works listed to export there. Meat exports to Indonesia were worth about $90 million last year. Agriculture minister Anton Apriyantono said if the certification was not fixed up by October 1, meat from Australia and New Zealand would be banned. The Ulema Council (MUI) of Indonesia claimed New Zealand meat held at Jakarta’s port was not clean according to Islamic dietary law - because halal certificates for slaughterhouses across New Zealand were not recognised. Indonesian Agriculture Ministry director general of livestock Tjeppy Sudjana said the MUI had evaluated halal certifying bodies in New Zealand and it recognised none. The head of the Association of Indonesian Meat Importers, Thomas Sembiring, said it was only told on June 2 by the port quarantine service the New Zealand meat was not halal.