The Department of Cooperatives, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, Industry, and Trade of Medan City, North Sumatra, has announced that a total of 2,300 micro, small, and medium-sized business owners (MSMEs) have obtained free halal certificates. To obtain the halal certificate, MSMEs entrepreneurs only need to submit their applications online according to the Head of the Department of Cooperatives, UMKM, Industry, and Trade of Medan City, in Medan. Providing free halal certification is one of the efforts of the Medan City Government to support the growth of UMKM in the region. However, currently, the free halal certificates are only issued for UMKM products that do not contain any meat-based ingredients.
For the time being, The Department have chosen MSMEs products that do not include meat-based ingredients to simplify the halal certification process. Regarding the funding source for the free halal certification for UMKM in Medan City, which would otherwise cost between IDR 300,000 to IDR 5 million, it does not utilize funds from the Regional Budget (APBD). This complimentary service is the result of Medan City Government's efforts in submitting a request to the Indonesian Ulama Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia or MUI) and relevant institutions, and they responded positively. In 2022, the Department of Cooperatives, MSMEs, Industry, and Trade of Medan City recorded a total of 38,343 UMKM registered in the Simdakop MSMEs (Cooperatives and MSMEs Data System) of Medan. Out of this number, 1,825 MSMEs were listed as part of the supervised UMKM by the Department, and as of now, the Department stated that 202 MSMEs products have successfully penetrated the international market.
