People have the Rights to Halal Guarantee

Jakarta (Antara) - The people have the rights to halal products and it should be guaranteed by the government, emphasized Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar. "The people have the basic rights to halal products, hence the government should regulate it," the deputy minister stated here on Monday. The regulation is now formulated in the Draft Law on Halal Product Guarantee. Unfortunately, the bill has now entered its ninth year, but it has not yet been enacted into a law. "I cannot see any vested interest, which delays the enactment of the bill on halal product guarantee. In the past period (2009), we had tried to do it and almost accomplished it, but we finally failed," he explained. Nasaruddin expressed concerns that if the bill is not immediately passed into a law, it will harm the interests of Muslims who had been waiting for it since long. "We hope the bill will not encounter any problems, and thus, it can be quickly enacted into a law," the deputy minister added. (*)