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Last Updated: Sep 25th, 2006 - 11:36:04 |
ARMM okays rules on halal certification
$ 150-B global market for Muslim food products eyed
By GIL M. ABARICO
COTABATO CITY — The ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) Halal Certification Board approved its guidelines during its final organizational meeting held recently in Zamboanga City, it was reported by Ishak Mastura, secretary of ARMM’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Halal certification is a system and process of determining what is "permissible" for consumption of Muslims under Shari’ah or Islamic law.
In particular, halal certification relates to product labeling that a certain product complies or is suitable for consumption by Muslims after it has undergone the process of being scrutinized by Muslim religious authorities that it is indeed permissible under Shari’ah.
The value of halal goods traded globally every year was estimated at $500 billion.
It was learned that the meeting approved the organizational structure and technical guidelines on "halal" certification of the ARMM Halal Certification Board (HCB), which is composed of the five provincial Muftis (Muslim religious leaders) of Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, all in ARMM.
Also included in the board as members are the representative of the Grand Mufti based in Cotabato City and competent technical personnel, such as medical doctor, engineer, chemist and food scientist. The Mufti of Tawi-Tawi, Ustadz Mohammad Inju, was elected as chairman of the HCB, and Ustadz Esmail Ebrahim as managing trustee.
The HCB approved the "Technical Guidelines and Manual of Operation of the ARMM Halal Accreditation and Certification" after it conducted provincial consultations in the past few weeks. It announced that the operations of the HCB will begin next month.
The formulation of the technical guidelines was facilitated through the assistance of the local government support program for ARMM funded by the Canadian International Development Agency in coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of ARMM.
Two consultants were hired to come up with the "Organizational Structure and Technical Guidelines for Halal Certification by HCB."
DTI Secretary Mastura, who attended the meeting, said, "we are happy that the HCB is finally organized, and we hope that it can start its work as soon as possible. We believe that the ARMM Halal Certification Board is the most credible halal certification scheme in the country because majority of the Muslims reside in the ARMM, and the provincial muftis in the ARMM are the most influential and most respected Muslim religious leaders in the Philippines dealing as they are with the majority Muslim population of ARMM."
Mastura likewise expressed the hope that the country’s exporters will start using the HCB to access the $500 billion global market for halal products.
He said that the ARMM government is close to forging a deal to export poultry products to the Middle East, particularly to Iran, in the coming months through the ARMM Halal Certification Board.
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