World Halal Forum – Europe – Overview

After the opening
ceremony, the forum started with a session that provided participants
with an overview of the global and the European Halal industry. This
session began with a presentation on the concept of Halal and its
growing importance in today’s economy by the Grand Mufti of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, H.E. Dr. Mustafa Ceric.

Hajjah Jumaatun followed
suit to present the latest figures on the potential of the Halal
market, deliberate on current issues as well as provide suggestions on
how to tackle possible repercussions in the global Halal market.

Following Hajjah Jumaatun
was Dr. Cédomir Nestorovic, a Professor in the Management Department of
the ESSEC Business School in Paris. He focused specifically on the
European Halal food industry covering its current potential, trends and
issues.

Next up on the rostrum is
industry expert, Mr. Frits Van Dijk, who is the Nestle Suisse S.A.’s
zone director for Oceania, Africa and the Middle East. In his
presentation, he deliberated on the growing significance of Halal in
global market expansion.

The session closed with
an interactive panel discussion chaired by Mr. Darhim Hashim, CEO of
the International Halal Integrity (IHI) Alliance, with Drs. Irfan
Sungkar (WHF/ KasehDia industry advisor) and Hajj AbdalHamid Evans
(Imarat Consultants senior analyst) as panellists.

After lunch, the forum
resumed with a session that saw four presentations and a panel
discussion covering the topic ‘Halal as a preferred choice and industry
challenges’.

The session started with
a presentation by the president of Intertek Food Services, Dr. Jochen
P. Zoller on bridging the gap between international food safety
standards and Halal standards.

The next presentation was
by Mr. Bahri Ouzariah (vice CEO – Halal food group, Oriental Viandes
Group, France) who presented the growth of Halal products in the retail
market. Following that was a presentation by a member of the World Fair Trade Organisation Europe talking about Fair Trade focusing on
upholding product integrity for consumer interest.

YBhg. Dato’ Dr. Mohd.
Hashim Ahmad Tajudin, group managing director of the Chemical Company
of Malaysia Berhad, followed suit to talk about the pharmaceutical
industry as an emerging Halal growth sector.

An interactive panel
discussion chaired by logistics expert, Ir. Marco Tieman (CEO of LBB
International) with Mr. Darhim as panellist ended the session and the
first day of the forum, with participants looking forward to more
informative sessions that will take place tomorrow.

The first session of the second day of the World Halal Forum (WHF)
Europe in The Hague kicked off with deliberations on major issues and
concerns in the Halal industry with regards to supply chain management,
animal welfare and ritual slaughter.

The
session started with a presentation by Ir. Marco Tieman, CEO of LBB
International, who spoke on preserving Halal integrity in the whole
supply chain, followed by a joint presentation on animal welfare and
Halal animal production according to Shariah by Dr. Michael Appleby and
Dr. S. Abdul Rahman, both council members of the Farm Animal Welfare
Council, UK.

The
next presentation was by Dr. Joe Regenstein (Professor – Head of
Cornell Kosher and Halal Food Initiative, Department of Food Science,
Cornell University, US) who discussed the challenges and advantages of
ritual slaughter.

This
first session was closed with a panel discussion chaired by Dr. Irfan
Sungkar (WHF/ KasehDia industry advisor). The panellist was Mr. Syed
Rasheeduddin Ahmed, founder and president of the Muslim Consumer Group
for Food Products USA.

After
a short coffee break and networking opportunity, the second session
began with the main title: ‘Halal Certification and Regulatory
Framework’. The first to take the rostrum was Mr. Darhim Hashim, CEO of
IHI Alliance, who explained the Halal certification and regulatory
issues to the participants. Mr. Darhim’s presentation was followed by a
deliberation on the importance of comprehensive and modern Halal
standards in production process by Mr. Rafaiq Bakri Zakaria, director
of strategic management of the Department of Standards Malaysia.

A
panel discussion chaired by Imarat Consultants senior analyst, Hajj
AbdalHamid Evans, closed the second session with an interactive
discussion with the participants.

The
final session of WHF Europe was the resolution formation panel, which
was made up of key speakers and panellists, including Mr. Darhim; Drs.
Irfan; Hajj Abdalhamid Evans; and Prof. Dr. Joe Regenstein.

Updates on the resolution and the developments of the resolution will be posted on the WHF website, www.worldhalalforum.org.