Do I need halal certification to sell cosmetics in Malaysia?

No. Halal certification is voluntary. NPRA notification is not — every cosmetic product must be notified before sale.

Can my factory handle both?

Many can. But ask who will hold the NPRA notification, because that holder controls the product.

My product is halal-certified but not yet notified. Is that a problem?

Yes. A halal certificate does not substitute for NPRA notification, and an unnotified product is not legal to sell.

Halal or NPRA first? The right order for a cosmetic product

Most new brands assume halal certification is step one. It is not — and the wrong order can leave your product illegal to sell even while it holds a valid halal certificate.

Written by Huyen Nguyen · Pharmaceutical, Supplement & Cosmetic Ingredients Contributor

Reviewed by KilangHALAL Editorial Board — figures checked against the JAKIM Halal Directory, captured 8 August 2026

This is the first question almost every new Malaysian beauty brand gets wrong, and getting it right saves money.

Short answer: NPRA first

Every cosmetic product sold in Malaysia must be notified to NPRA before it reaches the market. That is not optional and not a quality mark — it is a legal requirement under Ministry of Health regulation.

Halal certification is a layer on top of that. It does not replace notification, and JAKIM does not check whether you have one.

The consequence: a product can hold a valid halal certificate and still be illegal to sell, because it was never notified. This happens more often than people think.

The right order

Choose the factory and finalise the formulation. An NPRA notification is tied to a specific formulation — changing it later means notifying again.
NPRA notification. Made by the notification holder — usually the brand owner, sometimes the factory on your behalf. Ask which, because the notification holder controls the product.
Halal application. To JAKIM or the state Islamic Religious Council, with raw material documentation for every ingredient.
Only then put a halal logo on the packaging.

Why step four matters

Putting the word or the logo on a product without valid certification is an offence under the Trade Descriptions Act 2011, and the body that prosecutes it is not JAKIM — it is KPDN.

Plenty of brand owners know JAKIM issues the certificate. Far fewer know who raids you for misusing it.

Questions to put to your factory

Who holds the NPRA notification — me or you? If the factory holds it, what happens if I move production elsewhere?
Does your halal certificate cover my product, or only the plant? (Those are two different things — see our separate guide.)
Who prepares the raw material documentation for the halal application?

One thing we cannot tell you

Cost and timeline. JAKIM publishes fee categories but not ringgit amounts, and duration depends on how complete your documentation is. Anyone quoting you a firm number is guessing or selling something.

Where these figures come from

Counts on this page are taken from JAKIM's own Halal Directory, captured on 8 August 2026, and regenerate whenever a fresh capture is loaded. Certification status changes; check any specific company against JAKIM's records before relying on it.