Legal Awareness of Micro and Small Enterprise Operators Regarding Halal Certification: A Maslaha Perspective

Abstract

The halal certification of food products is essential for consumer protection and should be harmonized with the practices of small-scale micro-producers to ensure security and mutual benefits in accordance with Islamic teachings. However, micro-businesses have been observed to possess varied perceptions toward the certification program. Based on this understanding, the present study aims to categorize awareness of the benefits and legal aspects of digitalizing the process of obtaining the certification using a theoretical legal system approach. In order to achieve the stated objective, qualitative data was gathered from different sources such as micro-business owners, halal certifiers, and beneficiaries of halal-certified food products. The obtained results showed that micro-businesses in serang-Banten often register for halal certification due to regulatory requirements and potential sanctions, rather than a deep understanding of the benefits of halal-certified products. This finding emphasized the persistence of a lack of significant awareness among micro-businesses regarding the advantages of obtaining halal certification. Accordingly, during the course of the investigation, the dominant challenges experienced include administrative complexities in the self-declaration process and the availability of qualified halal certifiers for high-risk food ingredients. To address these issues, there is an essential necessity for the development of a streamlined certification system that supports micro-businesses, facilitates application processes, and monitors the potential misuse of fake halal logos. Lastly, following the observations made, it can be inferred that digitizing the process of halal certification for both the registration and labeling of food products would improve consumer confidence and ease supervision.