Halal ban threat on NZ meat exports

Indonesia is threatening millions of dollars worth of meat exports from New Zealand.

The Muslim country has blocked meat shipments and set a deadline of October 1 for New Zealand to fix the halal certification at the 60 meatworks listed to export there.

Meat exports to Indonesia were worth about $90 millionlast 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.

Indonesia's Muslim clerical organisation, the Ulema Council (MUI) 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.

Indonesia would still permit imports of New Zealand beef that was slaughtered before March 25 (when the halal certificates expired), the ministry said.

Last year Indonesia banned imports of New Zealand beef over what it said was improper labelling. The ban was lifted a week later after New Zealand's promise to improve packaging.

Malaysia blocked New Zealand halal meat for two years to 2007 over claims that its standards did not allow electrical stunning of animals - which is required for animal welfare reasons.