Over 100 goods to use Brunei Halal premium trademark

Friday, July 31, 2009

MORE than a hundred products manufactured in and outside the
Sultanate will be marketed under the Brunei Halal brand by June next
year, The Brunei Times learned.

This is the short-term objective
of the Brunei government which yesterday made available to the public
two products bearing the Brunei Halal brand as it begins its first
foray into the international market following the establishment of
Ghanim International Food Corporation. The company is the joint-venture
vehicle that will manage the use of the country’s premium halal brand
to the world.

Hjh Normah Suria Hayati PJDSM DSU (Dr) Hj Mohd
Jamil Al-Sufri, the acting director of the Agriculture Department under
the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, told The Brunei Times
the government is pushing for up to 100 products using the brand by
June next year.

“The interest to use the brand is there ever
since we embarked on this project two years ago,” said Hjh Normah,
adding that the interested parties come from countries like Australia,
Canada and the Philippines.

The two products already using the
brand are prawn crackers produced by local company Marimin and an
orange-flavoured drink manufactured by a Malaysian producer, Healthson
Corporation.

Producers that want to use the brand are required
to first acquire the Brunei halal label through the Department of
Syariah Affair’s Halal Food Control Section.

Ghanim, a
joint-venture between Brunei Wafirah Holdings, Brunei Global Islamic
Investment and Hong Kong-based logistics firm Kerry FSDA Limited, will
provide a comprehensive supply-chain management system for the export
of halal-certified food.

Brunei Warifah Holdings is a wholly
government-owned company and owner of the Brunei Halal brand and grants
the license to use the Brunei Halal brand trademark to Ghanim.

Hjh
Normah said in the initial stages the Brunei Halal brand will appear on
food and beverage products’ packaging but the range will be expanded to
include health, beauty and pharmaceutical products in the future.

“At the moment Ghanim’s expertise is in food, not in pharmaceutical products,” she said.

The Brunei Times