In June four years ago, when he was still director of Veterinarian Public Health at the Agriculture Ministry, Turni Rusli Syamsudin received a letter which he clearly remembers. It had been sent by the Indonesian Council of Ulamas (MUI) to the head of the Quarantine Board, with a copy to his institution.

According to Turni, this MUI letter reported that the halal beef certificate held by importer Sumber Laut Perkasa was invalid. Based on that le