South Korea’s Cosmax beauty products granted halal certification

South Korea’s original development manufacturing (ODM) cosmetics company Cosmax Inc. said its Indonesian subsidiary PT Cosmax Indonesia was granted halal certification, a move that is expected to help pave the way for the company to make forays into the global halal beauty product market.

The company said on Tuesday that PT Cosmax Indonesia received the halal certification from Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) to sell its cosmetics. MUI is one of the top three halal certification authorities in the world along with Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) and Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS), and it is acknowledged across about 40 different countries.

The Korean beauty products maker PT Cosmax Indonesia succeeded in meeting the strict guides of halal certification by producing cosmetics in hygienic conditions and containing zero harmful ingredients, and it became the first halal certified ODM cosmetics company among all Korean ODM beauty brands. The company expects to secure Islamic female consumers who have difficulties using general beauty products as its stable customer base.

“PT Cosmax Indonesia, with its international halal certification, will do its best as an export base for the company making inroads into global halal market to meet consumer demands on halal products in the world including South East Asia and Middle East,” said Lee Kun-il, head of PT Cosmax Indonesia.

Halal, an Arabic word meaning “lawful or permissible” in Islam, refers to products that Muslims are allowed to eat and use, and it is applied to various sectors ranging from food, medications and household goods to cosmetics. The halal cosmetics market is estimated at 100 trillion won ($84.2 billion), and it is expected to grow even bigger as more consumers are looking for products conforming to Islamic laws regardless of cost, said an unnamed official at Cosmax.