Abu Dhabi, UAE, 13th November, 2008:
The UAE and other Middle East countries need to follow Malaysia’s example in regulating Halal food production in order to prevent governments and consumers from being defrauded, an industry expert says.
Midamar Director Jalel Aossey said at Halal World Expo in Abu Dhabi today that close cooperation between governments and active certifiers in the region can help block the flow of non Halal food items reaching supermarket shelves as Halal products.
While Malaysia and Brunei have well established regulatory bodies to verify products that are Halal compliant and levels of protection are in place in countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, there is a growing demand for a universal standard across all Halal products.
“Of the American products that are found on supermarket shelves in the UAE and other parts of the Gulf region, about 95 per cent will be the same products that you see in US supermarkets,” said Aossey. “But some how, on the way from the US to the Middle East, these products magically become Halal. Consumers are no doubt becoming more aware of this reality and want to know what is being done to protect their religious beliefs.”
“On one side you have producers who genuinely don’t know what they have to comply with because of a lack of education from the industry. But you also have companies and exporters that are deliberately defrauding governments and consumers by not complying with regulations because they don’t want to pay the fees and the transition costs to make Halal products.”
This is what the industry is trying to clean up, and this is why events like Halal World Expo are so important, because what is needed is continuous dialogue and action, like we’re having in Abu Dhabi this week.
”Organised by IIR Middle EastIIR Middle East, the Middle East’s leading showcase for the US$2.1 trillion global Halal industry was reaching its conclusion tonight (Thursday).
Representing North America’s largest supplier of high quality US Halal meats, Aossey was one of the key speakers at the Halal World Expo Forum, running alongside the exhibition at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
He said: “People have to realise that it is not impossible, and that it’s not too costly, to put the correct Halal standards in place here. There’s a big misconception about how difficult this process is.”
“Inspection teams can be sent to the various countries where food is being produced to allow it to be inspected, at that country’s cost. This is nothing when you consider the huge dollar volume of food products exported to the UAE and other Gulf countries. Malaysia has set the stage for the rest of the world to follow.”
Aossey said regional governments need help from the industry to combat fraudulent Halal food certification practices and build consumer trust.
“In the US there is no regulation of Halal certification,” he said. “Anybody can get hold of a good printer and turn out a certificate that looks genuine. Corrupt certifiers get a taste for the money generated producing “paper Halal certificates” for companies without actually performing any work, and it’s all too easy for them to operate in an unregulated industry. Credible certifiers however, send slaughter teams and auditors to production plants to check that processes are fully Halal compliant. There is a cost in doing so and therefore they charge more.”
“Exporters, rather than the manufacturers approach the corrupt certifiers, acquire Halal certification, put Arabic labels on the product and ship it to the Middle East. The manufacturer may not have a clue where the product ends up or more important that their products are being misrepresented as Halal.”
“This couldn’t happen in the US because of consumer legislation. But it is very easy to combat in the Middle East. What’s needed is cooperation between governments and the active certifiers in this region.”
“The bottom line is there is hope. It will take time and as events like Halal World Expo gain momentum year to year, government and industry relations will prosper and a set of standards will be developed that will meet the needs of consumers. We must believe a solution is close at hand.”
Original Article from Midamar Website
The UAE and other Middle East countries need to follow Malaysia’s example in regulating Halal food production in order to prevent governments and consumers from being defrauded, an industry expert says.
Midamar Director Jalel Aossey said at Halal World Expo in Abu Dhabi today that close cooperation between governments and active certifiers in the region can help block the flow of non Halal food items reaching supermarket shelves as Halal products.
While Malaysia and Brunei have well established regulatory bodies to verify products that are Halal compliant and levels of protection are in place in countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, there is a growing demand for a universal standard across all Halal products.
“Of the American products that are found on supermarket shelves in the UAE and other parts of the Gulf region, about 95 per cent will be the same products that you see in US supermarkets,” said Aossey. “But some how, on the way from the US to the Middle East, these products magically become Halal. Consumers are no doubt becoming more aware of this reality and want to know what is being done to protect their religious beliefs.”
“On one side you have producers who genuinely don’t know what they have to comply with because of a lack of education from the industry. But you also have companies and exporters that are deliberately defrauding governments and consumers by not complying with regulations because they don’t want to pay the fees and the transition costs to make Halal products.”
This is what the industry is trying to clean up, and this is why events like Halal World Expo are so important, because what is needed is continuous dialogue and action, like we’re having in Abu Dhabi this week.
”Organised by IIR Middle EastIIR Middle East, the Middle East’s leading showcase for the US$2.1 trillion global Halal industry was reaching its conclusion tonight (Thursday).
Representing North America’s largest supplier of high quality US Halal meats, Aossey was one of the key speakers at the Halal World Expo Forum, running alongside the exhibition at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
He said: “People have to realise that it is not impossible, and that it’s not too costly, to put the correct Halal standards in place here. There’s a big misconception about how difficult this process is.”
“Inspection teams can be sent to the various countries where food is being produced to allow it to be inspected, at that country’s cost. This is nothing when you consider the huge dollar volume of food products exported to the UAE and other Gulf countries. Malaysia has set the stage for the rest of the world to follow.”
Aossey said regional governments need help from the industry to combat fraudulent Halal food certification practices and build consumer trust.
“In the US there is no regulation of Halal certification,” he said. “Anybody can get hold of a good printer and turn out a certificate that looks genuine. Corrupt certifiers get a taste for the money generated producing “paper Halal certificates” for companies without actually performing any work, and it’s all too easy for them to operate in an unregulated industry. Credible certifiers however, send slaughter teams and auditors to production plants to check that processes are fully Halal compliant. There is a cost in doing so and therefore they charge more.”
“Exporters, rather than the manufacturers approach the corrupt certifiers, acquire Halal certification, put Arabic labels on the product and ship it to the Middle East. The manufacturer may not have a clue where the product ends up or more important that their products are being misrepresented as Halal.”
“This couldn’t happen in the US because of consumer legislation. But it is very easy to combat in the Middle East. What’s needed is cooperation between governments and the active certifiers in this region.”
“The bottom line is there is hope. It will take time and as events like Halal World Expo gain momentum year to year, government and industry relations will prosper and a set of standards will be developed that will meet the needs of consumers. We must believe a solution is close at hand.”
Original Article from Midamar Website