Halal is big business. Around the world, it is a multi-billion dollar industry. The market for halal products is wide, from travel to tofu, and cosmetics to curry powder.
When the Malaysia Institute of International Islamic Cooperation (Ikiam) said that it planned to launch a halal logo just for Muslim products, Malaysians, including Muslims, were aghast. A common question is, “Does this mean that Jakim’s halal certificate is not good enough as a guarantee of halalness?”
Ikiam will work with the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) to launch the new logo early next year.
What is the logic behind this?
When a food product is designated halal by Jakim, the processes of production would have been vetted at every stage. The raw materials have to be produced in accordance with halal requirements. The packaging for the final product must also conform to strict halal requirements.
Isn’t the new halal logo another divisive tool in an already divided Malaysia? Do we really need this new halal branding?
Only 28% of the entrepreneurs who produce halal products are Malay. The remaining 70% are non-Malay, and presumably non-Muslim, businesses. Why is this? Is it because Malays think that obtaining a halal certificate is unnecessary because they are already Muslims?
Is it because it is too costly for Malay businesses to acquire the halal certificate?
The many government schemes to help bumiputera traders seem to encourage a fair proportion of them to get rich quick. Is obtaining the halal certificate a time-consuming and laborious process which alienates many Malay entrepreneurs?
Risda chairman Zahidi Zainul Abidin claimed that the halal logo would be free and he said, “The need for another halal logo is to distinguish products that were produced by Muslims against that of non-Muslims besides helping Risda smallholding entrepreneurs and Muslim entrepreneurs make forays into the halal markets locally and abroad.”
If the products are for export to the west, Zahidi should be aware that most consumers are not just concerned about the quality and price of the product, but the ethics behind its manufacture. For instance, many people refuse to buy cosmetics which have been tested on animals.
So, how would Zahidi respond to claims by animals rights campaigners in the west that animals slaughtered according to Islamic rites suffer a needlessly protracted death?
Zahidi is doing the Malays a disservice. One halal certificate is enough. The plan to introduce another certificate makes Risda look like just another government department muscling in on a money spinning scheme.
He said that many companies had flouted the halal rules. This means that there is a lack of enforcement by Jakim. That does not justify the introduction of another halal certificate.
Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist
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