Enhancing the Competency of Facilitators and Accelerating Halal Certificate Registration

Bubungan Tinggi: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat http://ppjp.ulm.ac.id/journals/index.php/btj/index e-ISSN: 2722-3043 p-ISSN: 2722-2934 Vol 7 No 1 2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20527/btjpm.v7i1.13144 Enhancing the Competency of Facilitators and Accelerating Halal Certificate Registration Zulpa Makiah, Supian Sauri*, Ardian Trio Wicaksono, Alvian Ikhsanul Fatya, Khairunnisa, Helda Rahmawati, Trining Puji Astutik, Iqbal Haitami, Anwar Hafidzi, and Nahdia Nazmi Halal Study Center, Universitas Islam Negeri Antasari Banjarmasin, Banjarmasin, Indonesia * Article Info Article history: Received: August 2, 2024 Revised: October 11, 2024 Accepted: January 17, 2025 Keywords: Business owner Facilitator Halal certification This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License © 2025 Bubungan Tinggi: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat Abstract The primary focus of this community service initiative is to improve the abilities of Halal Product Process facilitators (P3H) and to expedite halal certification acquisition for stakeholders in South Kalimantan through the selfdeclaration scheme. The methods used are mentoring and workshops, which are then carried out by holding a Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The number of P3H who participated in this event was 100 participants. The findings and outcomes of the event can be described through the enhancement of facilitators' competency, which has an impact on increasing the number of halal certificates issued in the South Kalimantan area. In 2022, 893 halal certificates have been issued, followed by 1,588 certificates from January 1st to July 14th, 2023. This number increased significantly to 3,286 certificates issued from July 15th to December 31st, 2023, after the implementation of community service. As a result, this community service has proven effective in accelerating halal certification for MSMEs. To cite this article: Makiah, Z., Sauri, S., Wicaksono, A. T., Fatya, A. I., Khairunnisa., Rahmawati, H., Astutik, T. P., Haitami, I., Hafidzi, A., & Nazmi, N. (2025). Enhancing the competency of facilitators and accelerating halal certificate registration. Bubungan Tinggi: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat, 7 (1), 63-74. INTRODUCTION Halal certification is an important measure for ensuring product quality for consumers (Ilham et al., 2023; Sekarwati & Hidayah, 2022), especially in Indonesia, where a significant portion of the population in South Kalimantan Province is Muslim. Halal product certification is essential to give Muslim consumers confidence, safety, and peace of mind (Budiman et al., 2022; Nur, 2014). Halal is a primary requirement for every Muslim when selecting their food consumption (Aang, 2020). Halal products involve raw materials from halal, including processing that adheres to halal principles (Ma’rifat & Sari, 2017). With halal certification, products are ensured to comply with standards recognized in Islam (Djakfar & Isnaliana, 2021). Islam teaches the importance of paying attention to the quality of the food consumed, not only in terms of its halal status but also its goodness and benefits. In the Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 168, emphasizes the fundamental principle of halal certification: halal food must also be thoyyib, or good and beneficial for health (Azam & Abdullah, 2020). 63 Makiah et al./ Bubungan Tinggi: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat 7(1) 2025 63-74 The concepts of 'halal' and 'thoyyiban' reflect religious values that emphasize that everything consumed by the body must be good and beneficial for health (Maulayati, 2019; Uljannah & Batubara, 2023). The halal industry not only caters to the needs of Muslim consumers but also addresses the demands of non-Muslim consumers who value health, social responsibility, and the quality of their consumed products (Azam & Abdullah, 2020; Prawiro & Fathudin, 2023). Halal certification on products produced by businesses is expected to increase consumer confidence in consuming goods without doubt about their halalness (Faridah, 2019; Nurdin & Sakti, 2024). The overall impact will positively affect the sales level of businesses (Riani et al., 2023). Therefore, the government remains committed to making Indonesia the centre of halal product production (Adiwinarto et al., 2022). One concrete step taken is regulatingation. The JPH Law Number 33 of 2014, implemented under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and related stakeholders, is the government's effort to strengthen the halal industry in this country (Hasan, 2021). This regulation transforms the halal certification landscape from a voluntary system to a strictly regulated obligation for business operators. The government is committed to and emphasizes its full involvement in ensuring that products in circulation meet the established halal standards (Hosen et al.,2022; Suwardi & Billah, 2021). The Halal Product Assurance Law reflects the government's seriousness in providing legal certainty and encouraging the industry to operate by halal principles (Dwi & Febriyanti, 2023). Thus, this regulation becomes a crucial foundation for enhancing consumer trust in Indonesian halal products (Hasanah et al., 2023). However, despite establishing regulations and institutions, implementing halal certification still faces various challenges. One of the biggest challenges is accelerating the registration process to obtain halal certification for food and beverage producers. As of October 17, 2024, all products circulating within Indonesia must have halal certification (Faridah, 2019; Jati et al., 2021). In this context, South Kalimantan is the focus of this study. The number of business actors in this region reaches 364,628 (Koperasi & UKM, 2023), but only 7,000 business actors have obtained halal certification, according to data from the Department of Industry of South Kalimantan (Yasinta, 2023). This fact shows halal certification in south Kalimantan is still low (Dewi et al., 2023). Therefore, there is a need to improve the competence of accompanying personnel and accelerate the registration of halal certificates in this region to ensure that business actors can obtain halal certification on time. In this community service, we explore factors influencing the halal certification registration, including administrative barriers, lack of understanding of certification requirements, and human limitations. This community service aims to improve the abilities of Halal Product Process facilitators (P3H) and to expedite halal certification acquisition for stakeholders in South Kalimantan through the self-declaration scheme. Thus, the results of this community service can provide valuable input for the government and related stakeholders to improve halal certification in South Kalimantan in particular and Indonesia in general and strengthen the halal industry as a whole. METHODS This community service was conducted by the Halal Studies Center of State Islamic University Antasari Banjarmasin on Friday, July (...truncated)