Halal Board Holds Meeting With Poultry, Food Firms In Mindanao

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 27, 2008) - Aware of the huge market potential of Halal products here and abroad, the Muslim Mindanao Halal Certifying Board, Inc. (MMHCBI) met with the Northern Mindanao Poultry Growers' Association in Cagayan de Oro City in compliance with the Philippine Halal Standards in food and non-products preparation.

Ustadz Esmael Ebrahim, spokesperson for the MMHCBI, said the Philippines' Halal certifying body, which is based in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, also conducted a briefing with the representatives of prominent industry trademarks on the religious and technical aspects of producing Halal foods.

He said those who attended the meeting were members of the Mindanao Poultry Growers' Association, particularly the San Miguel Corporation's sister company Magnolia, Swift, Bounty-Agro Ventures, Inc. Fresh and Vista de Rio Farms.

Food companies have sought to enrich their technologies' research and development for a market expansion that has to have strict compliance with the Philippine Halal Products Standards. By doing so, they are aiming for a fair share in the global Halal market, now worth $ 150 billion in international food trade statistics.

Poultry production is fast becoming an investment opportunity in the BIMP-EAGA, the ARMM, and in other parts of the country. Muslim countries, such as those in the Middle East, have a high demand for Halal products, meaning those that are processed in accordance with Islamic laws and tradition.

Getting a Halal certification from the MMHCB for both food and non-food products like cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, among others, will benefit both Muslims and non-Muslims alike, as this means that the said products comply with international standards.

These standards are: HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control for Products); GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices, both prerequisite BFAD certification) and ISO (International Standardization Organization).

The MMHCBI, which crafted the Philippine Halal Products Standards, is composed of five muftis (Guardians of House of Opinion) of the ARMM provinces and food technologists, chemists, nutritionists and scientists highly-respected in their fields of expertise on both the Islamic Sharia law and food science.

The Local Governance Support Program in the ARMM (LGSPA) has aided the MMHCBI in numerous areas of capacity-building and institutional linkages, resulting among others to the crafting of the Philippine Halal Standards and its acceptance by Muslim religious authorities and food experts here and abroad. LGSPA is the capacity-building program of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The MMHCB has also had the recognition of its equally reputable counterparts in Malaysia and Thailand with which it had entered into memorandums of understanding and agreements for a continuing working cooperation.

Ebrahim said the meeting, convened by the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), was also attended by officials and representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry in the ARMM, the Department of Agriculture and Food in ARMM; the ARMM Regional Board of Investment, and national officials of the Department of Agriculture, the National Coordinator for Philippine Halal Industry Development and MEDCo officials.

With its aim to enable the country to get a share from the huge global market for Halal, the meeting was organized by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Region 10, through DA Region 12 Assistant Director Ismael Mustapfa, the government's National Coordinator for its Halal Industry Development Program. (N.Maulana)

Photo: Halal Or Haram?

A man sells pork meat branded halal in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga on Wednesday, June 25, 2008. But pork is considered haram or food forbidden by Islamic law. Halal is meat that has been slaughtered in the manner prescribed by the Shari’a or food conforming to the Islamic dietary laws. The animals are killed under religious supervision by cutting the throat to allow removal of all blood from the carcass, without prior stunning. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

RP Halal Program Gets Big Support

Themed "The Halal Market - The Best Market Place for Mindanao Economic Growth," the Department of Science and Technology in Region 12 opens a two-day program for the development of the halal industry in the Philippines and launches its 1st National Halal Forum at the Phela Grande Convention Center in General Santos City on February 29, 2008.
Government officials from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Thailand, Malaysia and representatives from different national agencies join DOST-ARMM Secretary Macacuna Pangandaman (left); DOST Under Secretary for Research and Development Graciano P. Yumul Jr.(2nd from left); Chairman of the National Halal Forum and DOST-XII Regional Director Dr Haja Bai Sittie Shayma Zenaida P. Hajiraof-Laidan (center) during the cutting of the ribbon.
The Halal Science Technology and Innovation of the Philippines will enter into $600 billion halal market program for the development of the industry in the country.

(Mindanao Examiner Photo/Mark Navales)

RP Pushes For Halal Labels On Foods

A minaret of a mosque in southern Philippines. Manila is pushing for Halal labeling on food products and Halal corners in supermarkets. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

ZAMBOANGA CITY - The Philippines’ effort to put in place the general guidelines or standards in the production, preparation, packaging, labeling and handling of “Halal” foods is expected to benefit Filipino consumers, particularly the country’s over 10 million Muslim population.

Regional trade chief Naz Manzur said this will also open new opportunities for food manufacturers, traders and exporters. They will now have access to the huge world trade for Halal food products estimated at over $580 billion annually today.

“The absence of standards on Halal food put the Muslim consumers in the country at a great disadvantage as it restricts their choices of food for their dietary requirement,” he said during a consultation of Halal foods Saturday in Zamboanga City.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Western Mindanao has also urged operators and owners of major grocery stores and supermarkets in Zamboanga City to set up Halal lanes or corners in their stores to cater to the fast growing demand for Halal certified products in the domestic market.

Sitti Amina Jain, DTI assistant regional director, said that aside from food, there is also a huge market for non-food Halal products that include cosmetics, perfume, toiletries, body care pharmaceuticals, herbal and healthcare products. There are also many business opportunities for fashion accessories and apparel, food processing plants and abattoirs, in service industries and in many other industries, she said.

The concept of opening Halal lanes, aside offering new business opportunities, is in line with the DTI’s mandate under the Consumer Act of the Philippines to safeguard consumers against misrepresentation, mislabeling and the fraudulent use of the Halal logo in products sold in the market.

The Halal lane initiative was well-received by the representatives of the 13 grocery stores and supermarkets in the city who attended the meeting but asked that they be given time to set up the lanes as the work entails lots of logistical support.

If this initiative pushes through, Halal lanes or corners shall have been installed in major grocery stores and supermarkets in Zamboanga City by October, in time for the celebration of the National Consumers’ Month.

Halal is meat that has been slaughtered in the manner prescribed by the Shari’a. The method of slaughtering all animals excluding fish and most sea-life is known as dhabiĥa, meat prepared in this manner is then considered Halal.

The Qur’an provides certain guidelines for the Muslim believers to strictly adhere to products, especially food products that are produced and prepared following the tenets of the Muslim sacred scriptures. Muslims are to use and consume only Halal food - that which is permissible and lawful, and avoid anything that is considered Haram (forbidden) and Najis (unclean).

“Food products produced, prepared and handled following Halal standards are assured to be of the highest quality, thus benefiting not only the Muslims but also the non-Muslim consumers as well,” Manzur said.

The DTI said it will also organize a Halal Consumer Group to help the government in its advocacy for Halal and for networking purposes. (Lowell Vallecer)