SNI Certificate in Indonesia: Who Needs One, How to Get It
An SNI certificate in Indonesia is a condition of sale for some products. Check whether yours is one, who certifies it, and the steps from testing to the mark.
References (4)
- UU No. 20 Tahun 2014 tentang Standardisasi dan Penilaian Kesesuaian — the governing statute for standardisation and conformity assessment. Articles 1, 9, 14, 17, 20 to 22, 24, 25, 33, 36 and 46
- PP No. 34 Tahun 2018 tentang Sistem Standardisasi dan Penilaian Kesesuaian Nasional — in force 20 July 2018. Articles 22, 24 to 27, 29, 31, 41 to 43, 53 and 62. It expressly revokes PP No. 102 Tahun 2000
- UU No. 7 Tahun 2014 tentang Perdagangan, as amended by UU No. 6 Tahun 2023. Article 57
- UU No. 3 Tahun 2014 tentang Perindustrian, as amended by UU No. 6 Tahun 2023. Articles 53 and 57
An SNI certificate in Indonesia confirms that a product meets the Standar Nasional Indonesia — the Indonesian national standard for its category. For some products it is a condition of selling here at all. For the rest it is optional, and worth having for commercial reasons.
One thing is worth getting straight before anything else: the standards agency does not issue your certificate. Three separate bodies have a hand in this and they are easy to confuse; which does what is set out below. The document you end up holding is the product certificate for use of the SNI mark (sertifikat produk penggunaan tanda SNI, or SPPT-SNI).
Does it apply to your product?
| Mandatory SNI | Voluntary SNI | |
|---|---|---|
| What makes it apply | A minister or agency head makes the standard compulsory for your product, by regulation | The standard exists and you choose to certify against it |
| Can you sell without it | No. Goods in scope may not be produced, imported or traded without meeting it | Yes |
| The SNI mark on the pack | Required, once use of the mark is approved | Required once certified |
| Why companies do it | Because the alternative is not selling | To show the product meets the standard, by certificate and mark (UU 20/2014, Article 20(3)) |
Whether a given product is in mandatory scope is not settled by a general list. A minister or agency head makes a particular standard compulsory by regulation (UU 20/2014, Article 24(1); PP 34/2018, Article 25). From then on, goods under it may not be produced, imported or traded without meeting it (UU 20/2014, Article 25; UU 7/2014, Article 57, and UU 3/2014, Article 53(1)(b), both as amended). The question that matters is whether your product’s own standard has been made compulsory, and that is checked against the regulation for its classification rather than against a summary.
Once you hold the certificate for a compulsory standard, the producer or importer puts the SNI mark on the goods or their packaging (PP 34/2018, Article 27(1)), after approval to use the mark (Article 29(1)). Under a voluntary standard, the mark must be used once you are certified (UU 20/2014, Article 22(1); PP 34/2018, Article 22(1)).
Who does what
Three different bodies appear in this process.
BSN develops and sets the standards (UU 20/2014, Articles 14, 17 and 46) and approves use of the mark, or for a compulsory standard the ministry it delegates that to (PP 34/2018, Article 31); it does not accredit. KAN, the national accreditation committee, accredits laboratories and certification bodies for defined scopes (UU 20/2014, Article 9(2)). An accredited laboratory tests the product. An LSPro (Lembaga Sertifikasi Produk) is a certification body accredited by KAN; it assesses conformity and issues the certificate (UU 20/2014, Article 21(3); PP 34/2018, Article 26(3)). For a compulsory standard on industrial goods, the certification body must also be appointed by the government (UU 3/2014, Article 57(3), as amended).
Two consequences follow. Conformity assessment is to be carried out by bodies accredited by KAN (UU 20/2014, Article 36(1)), so check the laboratory’s accreditation covers your product before testing starts. And an LSPro can only certify within the scope KAN has accredited it for (PP 34/2018, Article 53(2)), so the right first question is not “which LSPro is cheapest” but “which is accredited for this product”.
The right and the duty to obtain a certificate sit with the business actor, a person or business established in, or operating in, Indonesia (UU 20/2014, Articles 1 angka 17, 21(2) and 25(1)). A domestic manufacturer applies as itself — the Indonesian company that produces the goods. The duty to put the mark on the goods falls on whoever produces or imports them (PP 34/2018, Article 27(1)). The standards themselves are published by BSN.
How certification works
The exact steps are set by the certification scheme for the product (PP 34/2018, Articles 41 to 43). In general they draw on testing, audit and inspection (UU 20/2014, Article 33(4)); the order is set by the scheme, and the steps below are an outline.
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Identify the standard, and check the laboratory's scope
Establish which SNI applies to the product and confirm the laboratory you intend to use is accredited for that scope.
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Product testing
The laboratory tests the product against the requirements of the applicable standard. What it tests depends on the standard.
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Application to the certification body
You submit the application to the certification body, which tells you which documents it needs.
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Factory audit
Where the scheme calls for it, the LSPro audits the production facility.
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Sampling, then issuance
Where the scheme calls for it, the LSPro takes samples from production for testing. If the product conforms, it issues the certificate, and approval to use the mark follows.
Start early
Certification involves testing and, depending on the scheme, an audit, so allow time. For a compulsory product, start it before launch or import plans are fixed.
Cost depends on the standard, the testing and any audit. It is built from the work the standard and the scheme actually call for.
Make sure the details on the application match your OSS registration (Online Single Submission, the government’s licensing portal); keeping them current is part of corporate secretarial work.
Where it goes wrong
What this means in practice
Two checks come first: whether your product’s standard is compulsory, and whether the laboratory and the certification body are accredited for its scope. After that the work is testing, any audit the scheme calls for, and the certification body’s surveillance.