Halal In Malaysia And Indonesia

Malaysia in the only country in the world where Halal certification is regulated and carried out by the government authority. The JAKIM logo is accepted locally, regionally and internationally. It is a certification that enjoys credibility and is highly sought -after, so much so that there are cases whereby the JAKIM logo has been counterfeited. There have also been reports that bussinesses find in cumbersome to get Halal certification from JAKIM. In response, Minister of Prime Minister`s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom told the New Straits Times in July 2010 that: To us, we cannot even have a 0.00001 per cent probility of something not being Halal. It is not like gold that can have a small percentage of the other elementsin ity. " The NST reported that JAKIM officers had been asked to speed up halal certification processing for those who had fullfilled the criteria. There have also been recommendations that JAKIM should certify the certifiers - in a similiar fashion ti the International Standart Organisation (ISO) in order to expend the pool of qualified halal assurance providers and really accelerate the growth of halal. Understandably, other assurance providers have stepped into bridge the gap, and in the market today halal logos form the likes of Islamic Food Research Centre (IFRC) - Malaysia and Asia and IFANCA (Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America) are visible.

Another prospective market with a large muslim population that can be tapped is Indonesia, despite its stringent requirements for halal good and services. However, there are obstacles. According to the Jakarta Globe, MUI plans to make it mandatory that all imported foods labelled Halal must obtain the council's own Halal certificate before they can be sold in Indonesia. In other words, Halal imports must be certified by the Lembaga Pengkajian Pangan Obat-obatan dan Kosmetika - Majelis Ulama Indonesia )LPPOM - MUI). "On the surface, it seem troublesome for entrepreneurs to venture into the Indonesian market given the rigid requirements imposed by the regulatory body," said Chua. However, he beleives that the economic pros out-weight the cons. From the economic point of view, Indonesia weathered the global financial crisis relatively smoothly because of its heavy reliance on domestic consumption as the driver of economic growth. The fact that Indonesia is the world's most populous muslim nation, with muslim comprising an estimated 86.1 per cent of the total population of 240 million as of January 2010 is another lure. "The effort commited to assure Halal products could be tremendous, but the market penetration that the certification could elicit is priceless," said Chua. Recently, Chua headed a team from Halal consultancy division to assist its China-based clients with the process of obtaining renewal for their MUI certifications. The entire process took about ten days and encompassed factories in various location in China. The company, Rousselot International, the world largest manufacturer of gelatine, deals mainly with the manufacturing and trading of photographic, pharmaceutical and edible gelatine.

Source : TAPPING THE HALLAL ASSURANCE MARKET MARCH 2011 ARTICLE