Waqi'iyah Commission discusses cell-based meat law

Jakarta, NU Online

The Waqi'iyah Commission at the 2021 National Conference of Alim Ulama (Munas) and the NU Grand Conference (Konbes) of will discuss the law related to cell-based meat.

 

The Coordinator of the Waqi'iyah Commission, H Mahbub Ma'afi, said that the law regarding cell-based meat needed to be studied as a preparation effort to meet the acceleration of technology. Moreover, the  consumption of meat is loved by the world community, including Indonesia.

 

“Cell-based meat is also a contemporary issue. Maybe in Indonesia there is no such thing. However, we know that the world's meat consumption is increasing day by day. For example, in Indonesia itself in five years (this phenomenon) has increased. But then, the problem arises that the production capacity is not enough to meet the level of public consumption," he told NU Online here Wednesday (22/9/2021).

 

The massive technological developments gave birth to the idea of ​​making cell-based meat. Meat is made in the laboratory without the need to first slaughter the animal, because the manufacturing process could be done by taking the animal's cells. In addition to no slaughter, cell-based meat production is also considered to be able to reduce the cost of raising livestock such as feed, health, and a large area of ​​land. This is the basis for the Waqi'iyah Commission to review the law regarding the manufacture of meat without a slaughter process, especially regarding its halal status.

 

“Well, this is a contemporary issue, because people want it to be concise. How is its law," the Deputy Secretary of the Bahtsul Masail Institute (LBM) of PBNU explained.

 

Cell-based meat production is still a new issue and is not common in Indonesia. However, a startup company from California-United States, Memphis Meats, has successfully developed the program. In an effort to deal with the pace of technological development, legal discussions related to cell-based meat will be raised as a national issue at the 2021 Munas.

 

"Maybe in Indonesia itself there is no such thing. However, in other countries there have been the ones that have tried to do that. So, basically we are preparing ourselves to enter (cell-based meat production), we already have an answer to its legal status,” Mahbub said.

 

Contributor: Nuriel Shiami Indiraphasa

Editor: Sudarto Murtaufiq