Foreign Brands Prepare for Halal Certification as Local Cosmetics Firms See Market Opportunity

Foreign cosmetics brands entering Indonesia will need to prepare for mandatory halal certification before the requirement takes effect on Oct. 18, 2026. The change could give local producers that already meet the rules a chance to win customers from imported products.

Sutan Emir Hidayat, director of Islamic Economy Ecosystem Infrastructure at the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance and secretary-general of the Indonesian Association of Islamic Economists, said the requirement covers all cosmetics circulated and traded in Indonesia, including imports.

He said the regulation would not necessarily persuade foreign brands to abandon plans to enter the Indonesian market. Companies without a halal assurance system, however, could need time to adapt their formulas and production processes.

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Global premium brands that do not focus on the Muslim market may choose to delay expansion into Indonesia because they are reluctant to change their formulas and need time to do so.

“Global premium brands that do not focus on the Muslim market may choose to delay expansion into Indonesia because they are reluctant to change their formulas and need time to do so,” Emir told Republika. KNEKS is still awaiting analysts’ estimates of how many brands might delay or cancel their plans.

Emir said foreign companies still have strong reasons to enter Indonesia because the country offers a potentially attractive market. In the meantime, local manufacturers that are ready to comply with the halal rules could take the share left by imported products. “Local producers that are already ready can take over the market share left by imported products,” he said.

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Local producers that are already ready can take over the market share left by imported products.