by Lovely A. Carillo
The market for Halal products is so big that Davao and Mindanao’s other business sectors can make a killing just by getting their products certified as Halal.
“Halal is an Arabic term which can be loosely translated as something permissible or allowed to be consumed in Islam,” Muslim Mindanao Halal Certification Board Inc. executive director Mariam Mohamad-Daud said.
Mohamad-Daud said when a product has been certified as Halal, then it can be consumed or used by Muslims. This is the opposite of Haram, which is its exact opposite—meaning something that cannot be consumed nor used by Muslims, she added.
Any business that wants to make money from the billion-dollar Halal market should have their products certified as Halal. She said no Muslim country will accept non-Halal products being exported to them.
“Even the biggest exports from Mindanao, like Dole and Del Monte products which are already certified as Halal, are still closely scrutinized for pesticide residues as that would be considered as an impurity,” she said.
Products that are destined for entry into Muslim market are being lined up for Halal certification. But, while the term Halal reminds one only of food, Mohamad-Daud said even food supplements and non-food products like beauty soaps are also required to undergo Halal certification before they are allowed to enter Muslim countries.
Unlike the other Muslim countries where there is only one Halal certification board, the Philippines hasvover 20 certification boards. However, companies should also choose the most credible Halal certification board because not all Halal certifications are honored by Muslim countries.
Mohamad-Daud said the Cotabato-based Mindanao Halal Certification Board follows the guideline used by the Philippine National Standard for Food. They have also formed a partnership with Thailand and Malaysia, and their Halal Boards have agreed to honor the local Board’s Halal certifications.
Among the biggest clients of the board are coffee manufacturers and food supplement companies.
“Most Muslim countries have become stricter about Halal certifications because they had discovered impurities from some of the imported canned goods before,” she said. Most Muslim countries have very sophisticated laboratories and they can easily detect impurities like chemical traces or pork in products supposedly certified as Halal.
She said there was one whole container van which was incinerated by authorities upon entry in the Middle East because it was supposed to be Halal certified but they detected some impurities.
“If we are really in doubt about the contents of a certain product, then we send it to the more sophisticated laboratories in Thailand and Malaysia,” she said.
The problem with the Philippines, she said, is that our laboratories here are not so high tech unlike in Malaysia where they have these “nose” machines that can easily detect impurities.
Fees for Halal certification range from as low as P5,000 for small companies to P50,000 for multinational companies. The certification given by the Muslim Mindanao Halal Certification Board, Inc. is good for only a year, unlike other boards that allow lifetime certifications.
“We are very strict with the certification process and we even conduct regular monitoring and surprise visits to the workplace of the applicants even after the Halal certification has been granted,” she said.
Halal City
Davao City Council has realized the importance of serving Halal food in the city not only for economic reasons, but also for social reasons considering that it is the center of commerce not only in Mindanao, but is also a prime mover in the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asean Growth Area or BIMP-EAGA.
Before their terms ended last June 30, the members of the outgoing City Council approved an ordinance that will increase Davao City’s competitiveness, especially when it comes to the Muslim market. The ordinance, authored by councilor Ma. Belen Acosta, requires the offering of Halal food in all the city’s restaurants.
The Halal accreditation will be provided by the Davao City Muslim Ulama Halal certifying and monitoring agency. And once the food establishments have been certified as Halal, they are also required to post the Halal word or logo in their establishments.
A Halal certification is official proof that a food establishment prepares the food it serves in accordance with the Muslim way of preparing food, that is, sanitary and separate from the preparation of food with pork content.
The ordinance subjects violators to a fine of from P500 for the first offense up to a fine of P5,000 for the third offense. Repeated violation can also mean closure of the food establishment concerned.
The Halal market is a billion-dollar market considering that consumers requiring Halal products can be found not only in Davao City but the world over. Keeping products Halal-certified will thus be good business sense for companies.
