Bandar Seri Begawan – The ‘Brunei Halal Brand’ took centre stage
yesterday during the International Halal Product (IHP) Expo 2009 at the
International Convention Centre (ICC).
According to the brand’s website, Brunei Halal Brand is a government
project initiated by the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources
along with the cooperation of the Brunei Islamic Religious Council,
Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Health.
Brunei Wafirah Holdings Sdn Bhd, a wholly government owned company,
is the owner of the brand, and was granted the license to the newly
established commercial company, Ghanim International Food Corporation
Sdn Bhd.
Ghanim is set to provide a “Comprehensive supply-chain management
system” for the export of food, which has been certified as halal,
through Brunei’s ‘Halal Certification Process’, and packaged under the
Brunei Halal Brand.
Aside from that, Ghanim will also assume the responsibility for
management, marketing and promotion of halal products under the Brunei
Halal Brand, and will ensure that food safety management is of the
highest standard.
To clear any possible confusion regarding the Brunei Halal Brand and
the Brunei Halal Label of halal certification, an explanation of the
differences between the brand and the label are as follows:
The Brunei Halal Brand, according to information provided by the
Agricultural Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources,
“is a platform for the development of local products, in terms of
marketing, advertisement, packaging and so on. The prerequisite for
application of the brand is the Brunei Halal Label. The brand also
incurs royalty fees, and is certified by Ghanim International Food
Corporation Sdn Bhd.”
“The Brunei Halal Label is a certification for halal as an assurance
for halal products, and the audit process includes adequacy audits,
on-site audits and surveillance audits. It also requires annual renewal
of halal certification, and is certified by the Islamic Religious
Council.”
“A product shall not be licensed to use Brunei Halal Brand unless it
has been issued a permit to use the Halal Label in accordance with:
Halal certificate and Halal Label Order 2005; Brunei Darussalam
Standard for Halal Food (PBD 24:2007); Brunei Darussalam certification
guidelines for Halal certificate and Halal label (BCG Halal 1)”.
Mr Noel Shield from Ghanim International Food Corporation Sdn Bhd
gave a presentation on the Brunei Halal Brand during a workshop, in
which he spoke about the brand and the label.
Mr Shield spoke of the Brunei Halal Commercial Brand, which “is the
commercial aspect of the brand and will be used on all packaging and
promotional material specifically related to Brunei Halal”
The brand will appear on food and beverage products, including
ambient groceries, dairy, confectionaries, snack food, meat, poultry
and fresh produce.
Mr Shield also spoke of how the brand has also been designed to
include other products that are associated with an individual’s
lifestyle including health and beauty as well as a range of
pharmaceuticals.
The logo will also be applied to any promotional activity, which specifically relates to the brand.
Mr Shield’s presentation also included a mention of the Brunei Halal
accreditation logo, which is the Halal accreditation aspect of the
brand.
The accreditation process, according to Mr Shields, is independent
of the commercial Brunei Halal Brand, and is awarded only to
manufacturing facilities that have achieved the required Halal
standards as stipulated by the Brunei Religious Control authorities.
As a prerequisite, all Brunei Halal products need to go through this
Halal accreditation process. The Brunei Halal accreditation logo will
be positioned on the front of the product together with the commercial
Brunei Halal brand logo.
The International Halal Market Conference 2009 begins today, and
will feature another presentation by Mr Noel Shield entitled, “Taking
Brunei Halal Brand to the World” — Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
