As the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, Indonesia has long been one of the most vital emerging overseas markets for China’s leather shoe foreign trade enterprises. Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces host China’s most complete industrial clusters for genuine leather shoes. Covering high-end business leather shoes from Wenzhou, casual men’s shoes from Quanzhou, and foreign trade OEM leather shoes from Suzhou and Fuzhou, a large number of local factories steadily supply wholesalers, supermarkets and e-commerce retailers across Indonesia all year round.
However, with Indonesia’s mandatory halal certification policy officially taking effect on October 17, 2026, the entire leather shoe export industry in East China is facing an unprecedented compliance test. Obtaining official BPJPH halal certification on schedule will directly determine whether enterprises can retain their market share in Indonesia in the future.
For a long time, most domestic leather shoe manufacturers have held a common misconception that halal certification only applies to edible and skincare products, while leather shoes, as wearable consumer goods, are exempt from halal qualification requirements. This outdated perception has been completely overturned by Indonesia’s Government Regulation No.42 of 2024.
In accordance with Indonesia’s Halal Product Guarantee Law No.33/2014 and the new Regulation PP 42/2024, all footwear products made of animal leather must be affixed with official halal labels and hold valid BPJPH halal certificates for circulation and sales in Indonesia starting from October 17, 2026. Uncertified products will either be forcibly marked as “non-halal”, resulting in a sharp decline in market competitiveness, or detained and returned at ports, incurring high port demurrage fees and order breach losses. This is not a short-term policy, but a long-term national strategy for Indonesia to build a global halal industrial chain. Customs inspection will only become stricter with no extension or buffer period available.
For leather shoe factories in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Fujian industrial belt, BPJPH certification is far more than a simple product test report. It implements full-process halal management and audit covering raw material procurement, tanning processing, assembly production, warehousing and export logistics with stringent and detailed standards.
The core audit requirement lies in compliant leather raw materials. Animal raw materials such as cowhide and sheepskin used for genuine leather shoes must come from officially compliant halal slaughter channels, with complete supplier slaughter certificates and batch traceability documents reserved. Materials prohibited by Islamic teachings including pigskin and dogskin are strictly banned. Many foreign trade factories procure scattered leather materials without complete upstream qualification documents, which will directly lead to audit failure during on-site factory inspections.
Compliance of production accessories is another high-risk area where domestic leather shoe enterprises are prone to violations. Tanning oils, softeners, shoe adhesives, dyes, polishing agents, as well as trace additives in inner foam and sewing threads must not contain prohibited ingredients such as porcine glycerin, fermented alcohol and non-halal animal enzymes. Many factories have long adopted general industrial accessories without requesting halal certification documents from suppliers. Last-minute material replacement before audits will not only prolong the certification cycle, but also disrupt production schedules and delay order delivery for Indonesian clients.
In addition, factory infrastructure and management systems are also included in the audit scope. Factories producing both halal and non-halal leather shoes must set up physical isolation between workshops, implement strict cleaning and disinfection procedures for production lines and equipment with complete cleaning records. Raw material warehouses and finished product warehouses shall be partitioned, and transportation vehicles shall avoid cross-contamination. Enterprises need to establish comprehensive halal management ledgers, provide staff halal compliance training, and build a sustainable long-term halal management system. Halal certification is not a one-time qualification; enterprises will face unscheduled official supervision audits, requiring compliance management to be integrated into daily production operations.