Malaysia: No double standards in Halal applications

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no element of double standard in the approval of the application for halal certificate from big companies or small and medium industry, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said.He said the halal certification issued by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) was based on the manufacturing process of the product.

“The applicant must know that in order for the application to be approved, the product’s manufacturing and handling processes must be examined, starting from the farm right to the dining table.

“Usually, approval for a normal application would take 30 days, but an application from the SMI will probably take shorter time to be approved as they have less complicated manufacturing processes,” he told reporters after closing the Malaysian National Halal Certification Auditors’ Conference here today.

Earlier, the conference also passed a resolution which was presented to Jamil Khir by Jakim director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha.

Through the resolution, Jakim, together with state Islamic religious councils and departments would standardise the Malaysian halal certification monitoring, auditing and evaluating processes.

“For SMI, a fee of RM200 will be charged for each application.

“We don’t force food outlets to apply or display halal certificate, but starting July, we will also monitor and take action against outlets using halal certificate not issued by either Jakim or state Islamic religious councils and departments,” he added.

Source: Bernama