KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 (Bernama) — The Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Department Datuk Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today the Halal Industry
Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (HDC), which has been entrusted by the
Cabinet to issue halal certificates, is not meant to take over the
Malaysian Islamic Development Department’s (Jakim) authority.
Instead, he said, all matters regarding the halal certificate and
the promotion for halal products would now be under one roof to avoid
international confusion.
“When the HDC uses the halal logo issued by Jakim, it does not mean that HDC has taken over Jakim’s authority.
“Instead, it was meant as a one-stop agency consisting of Jakim,
the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Halal Forum
and so on,” he told a press conference after officiating the Federal
Territory’s Maulidur Rasul celebration, here today.
Yesterday, Ahmad Zahid also said that the HDC would take over
MITI’s role in terms of promotion, marketing and organising halal
products and services exhibition.
On Wednesday, the HDC had also received the Cabinet’s mandate to issue all domestic and international halal certificates.
Ahmad Zahid said the HDC’s new role, however, would not affect the
process of issuing halal certificates at the state level, because the
standard procedure used for it was still similar to Jakim’s.
“Prior to this, the states’ religious council and department had
given the authority to Jakim regarding halal logo and certificates, so
the authority and the agreement still stand.
“It’s not the issue of taking over, but more on coordinating,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid said the existing specifications used in issuing the
halal certificate would also be applied and improvised to speed up the
process.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said beginning next year, the Maulidur
Rasul celebration would be more grand with bigger procession to
interpret the Prophet Muhammad attributions and traits.
“InsyaAllah (God willing), we will organise a bigger event next
year, not to show off, but to prove that the Muslims are united, in
showing their love to the Prophet,” he said.
He said, the prize for ‘Tokoh Maulidur Rasul’ would also be increased as an appreciation for their contributions.
“I am aware that the allocation for the department is small, but we will try to get sponsors,” he said.
Earlier, Ahmad Zahid also presented the Maulidur Rasul Award to three recipients.
They are Mohamad Ali Mohamad Zaki for Excellent Student, Abdul
Hanif Harun for Excellent Preacher and Jaafar Daud for Excellent
Volunteer category.
