WHAT IS HALAL LOGISTICS?

 

Halal logistics is the process of managing the material flow and information flow throughout the supply chain in accordance to a halal standard. The material flow covers the transport, storage and terminal operations. The information flow covers the management of the data in the supply chain, such as product information, demand data, and halal logistics label and code. Halal logistics is a system based on segregation instead of detection.

 

Halal products are segregated from non-halal products to:

1. Avoid (cross) contamination

2. Avoid making mistakes

3. Ensure consistency with expectations of the Muslim consumer

LBB International, a multinational logistics advisory, research and supply chain management firm with offices in The Hague, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok, has developed expertise in the area of halal logistics and assisted governments and multinationals in developing halal-compliant supply chains.

The company holds the Secretariat of the International Halal Logistics Standard (IHI AS 01) under the International Halal Integrity Alliance (an OIC organization). In Malaysia, LBB has launched the internet portal halalStorage.com, an online marketplace for the demand and supply in halal storage. This portal facilitates in the search process for halal storage worldwide.

Halal industry should work with Islamic finance

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the halal industry’s rapid growth, it is missing out on opportunities to tap into Islamic finance, panel members said.
“There is a disconnect between the halal industry and Islamic financing, which is ironic since we’re working within the same religion, but are not talking to each other,” said Thomson Reuters head of Islamic finance (Asia) Rafiza Ghazali at a discussion on “Halal Economy” during the Islamic Financial Intelligence Summit.
She said in a study conducted by Reuters on 250 companies involved in halal production and with a combined market capitalisation of US$132bil, it found that only 50% of them passed the Aofi test, which meant that they are not syariah-complaint.
The Aofi test was a screening criteria used by Reuters to determine the syariah compliancy of stocks, she said.
“Why is it that they (companies in halal production) make sure their products can be consumed by Muslims, yet Muslims cannot invest in them?” Rafiza asked.
Fellow panelist, AmIslamic Funds Management Malaysia director Datin Maznah Mahbob, said: “There are so many opportunities for those companies to issue sukuk, short-term papers, and longer-term Islamic debt instruments of various tenures for fund managers to invest in.
“As a fund management firm, we invest in both sukuk and equities. If they structure their funding requirements in a syariah-compliant way, we can invest in them as they will be in my syariah-complaint universe.”
In a separate panel discussing the potential of Islamic funds, Aberdeen Islamic Asset Management CEO Abdul Jalil Rasheed cautioned against the popular belief that Islamic funds can outperform conventional funds at every turn.
“We don’t go out there saying it will outperform. I’ll be honest, we will guarantee a period of underperformance; that’s just how the market is. If you are outperforming consistently, you’re lying. Something’s wrong,” he said.
“No Islamic fund can claim they have a five to ten year track record. It will take some time to build critical mass and before we can tell clients that this fund can stand on its own merit against conventional funds.”
source : the star online

‘Pakistan can tap global Halal food market’

FAISALABAD: Pakistan can become a leading Halal food market and tap two billion consumers worldwide if it meets international standards.

This was the key remark made by the speakers on the second day of an international conference titled “Emerging Issues in Food Safety” at University of Agriculture, Faisalabad on Tuesday.
Dr Nadeem Riaz, Research Scientist & Director of the A&M University, Texas called for standardisation of hazard analysis and critical control points in the country to make food purely Halal.
Hazard analysis and critical control points is a systematic preventive approach to food safety that addresses physical, chemical and biological hazards as a means of prevention rather than finished product inspection.
He also shed light on other factors including poor sanitation situation and use of washing soaps which contain non-Halal contents.
He said a transparent system of Halal auditing, not just mere inspection, is a welcome approach to remove any suspicion about a manufactured product.
Former justice Khalilur Rehman, who was the chief guest, stressed the need for developing a comprehensive mechanism to remove contamination in Halal goods.
He pinned hope on the Punjab Agriculture Meat Company, established by the provincial government, for addressing the issue of adulteration in Halal food.
Dr Tipayanate Ariyaptipan of Halal Science Centre, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok briefed about the combined laboratory techniques for screening adulterated food products available in the Thai Muslim market.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th,  2011.

INDONESIA: MUI wary amid barrage of Chinese Halal food exports

By The Halal Journal Newsdesk (Source: The Jakarta Post) published 9 hours ago

Original Article Source: The Jakarta Post

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) confirms a sharp rise in Halal food products coming from China, but it remains sceptical over China’s Halal industry, which is presumed to still be in its developmental stages.

“The number of Halal products from China has increased by 50 to 100 percent since last year,” MUI Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM) chief Lukmanul Hakim told The Jakarta Post. He said that some of China’s Halal food exports — which far exceeded those from Europe and the US — came from Ningxia, a province known for its Muslim Hui ethnicity. Muslims in Ningxia account for around 38 percent of the province’s 6.3 million residents. The province recently announced it had developed a Halal industry to accommodate not just the needs of Chinese Muslims but also Muslims in other countries.

Ningxia’s Halal food commission said that the province had more than 10,000 factories and restaurants that were certified Halal. The region’s Halal industry, which is supported by a high tech laboratory, 15 experts and 300 staffers, was currently worth up to 50 million RMB (US$7.9 million). The commission added that the industry had been working with foreign counterparts since 2008, cooperating on a reciprocal basis with Halal institutions in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Malaysia, with Indonesia soon to join the mix.

Lukmanul acknowledged the booming development of China’s Halal industry, but said that the

LPPOM, acting as Indonesia’s Halal certification authority, did not see itself engaging in any Chinese cooperation in the near future. “They can cooperate with Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, but here we pay great attention to standards and human resource competency. It is not just a matter of issuing a certificate.”

According to Lukmanul, establishing cooperation with foreign Halal institutions meant agreeing to the validity of their certification systems and trusting their assessments of products to be exported to Indonesia.

The LPPOM has so far approved the Halal certification of 46 overseas institutions from 22 countries including the US, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and the Netherlands. For all its Halal exports to Indonesia, China did not make the list.

“We are not yet able to approve their Halal certification, partly because of their political situation,” Lukmanul said.

He explained that the MUI had to consider China’s trade policy. He said that given the country’s dominance and pragmatic approach in the politics of trade, China could be inclined to sacrifice Halal aspects in favour of economic efficiency.

“China knows that the [Halal] market is here. They are willing to follow any foreign standards as long as they succeed in getting into the country. The MUI has to decide what is best, and, for the moment, our hearts are telling us no,” he said.

Lukmanul believed that China’s surge in Halal product exports — including those to Indonesia — was more of a reflection of its economic sensibilities than its Muslim growth.

Therefore, the MUI decided that it was best to take on the responsibility of assessing Chinese Halal products independently rather than leaving it up to a local institution.

“We have to make sure that they are really Halal,” he said.

As of the first eight months of this year, Indonesia’s non-oil and gas imports from China reached $16.4 billion, up by 27 percent compared to last year, making a total trade deficit of $3.55 billion.

PAKISTAN: Int’l moot on promotion of Halal meat

By The Halal Journal Newsdesk (Source: The Jakarta Post) published 9 hours ago

Original Article Source: The Jakarta Post

http://www.halalrc.org/ An international conference on promotion of “Halal Meat” will be held on December 14-15 in the city. Delegates from 16 countries will participate in the conference aimed at introducing Pakistani Halal products all over the world. Pakistan Agriculture and Meat Company (PAMCO) Chief Executive Officer Dr Hamid Jalil explaining the objectives of the conference, told newsmen that it would be a unique moot which included practical aspects of learning. He said it had been divided into two segments, on first day, the researchers would present their papers while the second day allocated for field visits. These visits include a State of the Art facility set-up by PAMCO costing $300 million with the cooperation of Iran, M-3 Halal Industrial Park at Faisalabad, National Institute of Food and Technology (NIFT), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad and a Halal Laboratory set-up at University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore so that the delegation from different countries may see the actual research work.

Dr Hamid said that the objective of PAMCO was to promote Halal Industry through developing Agriculture and Livestock sectors. He further informed that Pakistani products were respected all over the world for being Halal, on which their demand was increasing day by day. Keeping this in view, PAMCO is strengthening contact with many international institutions, and two further contracts were expected to be signed at the conference. Mr Zubair Mughal, the CEO- Halal Research Council, added that the conference would provide a great opportunity for Pakistani FMCG sector to get them recognized in the int’l market, which would help to boost the exports from Pak and enabling the reduction of budget deficit of Pak.

UNITED KINGDOM: Pure Halal Beauty

With all the talk of cuts and recession it’s good to hear that the pioneering spirit is still with us. Not letting the current economic climate get in the way of a good idea, 20 year old Rose Brown set up a rather unique business venture and opened the first store of its kind in the UK.
Pure Halal Beauty, a store dedicated solely to Halal Certified and Vegan Registered beauty products, opened its doors last Christmas in Birmingham’s Pavilions Shopping Centre. Now less than a year after opening the business is booming. Rose’s dedication to providing the best Halal Certified beauty products has led her to create her own range “The PHB Collection.” Her collection has nearly 80 unique cosmetic and skincare products and is hand-made in the UK using the finest, all natural ingredients and eco-friendly packaging.  Rose says the response to her new range has been overwhelming, “People have been really positive. I have had support and encouragement from around the country (through our website) from people who are so happy to have found us. Muslims, vegans and vegetarians love our products because they don’t conflict with their personal and religious beliefs. Our products also appeal to the conscious consumer who's looking for chemical-free beauty products. People who want to use natural, ethical and beneficial beauty products are always so pleased with our phenomenal range as well as our extremely affordable prices!”

As well as launching her PHB Collection, Rose has teamed up with City College Birmingham to offer apprenticeships to young students. “This time last year I was a student myself so I understand how difficult it is for young people trying to find work. I’m really pleased to be able to offer students the opportunity to gain vital work experience with Pure Halal Beauty.” While many people would baulk at the idea of setting up a business in the current climate Rose welcomes the challenge, “Some people think I’m crazy(!) but I have great belief in the products I’m selling and the prospects for expansion are looking very promising.”

"Pure Halal Beauty - Where Beauty and Belief Co-exist" .The new PHB ranges are available to customers worldwide at http://www.purehalalbeauty.com/ and in-store at Level 2, The Pavilions Shopping Centre, Birmingham, UK.

PRESS RELEASE ENDS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For further info or interviews, or for images of our product ranges and CEO Rose Brown please email Sally Gibbins at:
media@purehalalbeauty.co.uk
or call 07510 663 695
If you are interested in reviewing our products, or running a competition offering a PHB discount/prizes to your audience please contact us, we will be happy to collaborate. Rose Brown is the daughter of award winning songwriter/drummer Jimmy Brown of Internationally acclaimed reggae/pop group UB40.

Ref: http://www.responsesource.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=68254

 

Allow More Bodies To Undertake Halal Certification, Says SMI Association

 (14 Nov 2011)  The appointment of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) as the sole halal certification body from Jan 1, 2012 will affect the food and manufacturing industry, says SMI Association of Malaysia.
Its national deputy president, Teh Kee Sin, said the government needed to look into the possibility of allowing more bodies to undertake the certification job.
"Currently, Malaysia has seven international halal certification bodies (including JAKIM). Next year, there would be only one and we are worried about this monopoly.
"At present, JAKIM already faced problems regarding the application and renewal of the licences. I guess this may even take a longer time (to solve)," he told a media briefing here today.
They hoped that the government would delay allowing JAKIM to take over the job on Jan 1 to sort out the problem via calling for more dialogues with the industry.
Also present were president of Malaysian Bakery, Biscuit, Confectionery and Mee Merchants' Association, Kent Lim and president of Malaysian Seafood Industries Association, Lee Teck Wee.
Meanwhile, president of Malaysian Foodstuffs and Toys Merchant's Association, David Yeow Kock Tiong, said JAKIM must standardise the issuance of the halal certificates in the states.
He said JAKIM's guidelines must be business-friendly and transparent.
"Halal industry is very important to the economy and the government should be more pro-business," he said.
Source: BERNAMA
Ref: http://www.daganghalal.com/HalalNews/HalalNewsDtl.aspx?id=1914

Canada: Coffee is the newest battleground for fast food giants
Filed in Branding & Marketing, Canada, Restaurants, The Americas on 12/11/2011 with no comments
By Steve Mertl

There’s some irony in news that McDonald’s and Tim Hortons are jumping into the high-end coffee business.

Starbucks, the omni-present purveyor of lattes and espressos was probably most responsible for raising the bar on what constitutes good coffee. But with a Starbucks practically on every corner, it’s become the McDonald’s of coffee in some people’s minds, a mega corporation whose core product is getting mediocre reviews.

But what a lot of us aren’t prepared to admit is the Seattle-based company changed the way we view our daily jolt. The evidence is in the fact two of Canada’s biggest fast-food chains are moving into what the Toronto Star notes is a a $1-billion annual market.

Tim Hortons, home of the double-double, has announced it will install espresso machines in a thousand of its locations this month.

McDonald’s which had already upgraded its brewed coffee and bolstered it with free promotions, launched a national media campaign for its McCafe espresso brand.

“This is no longer fast food. ” McDonald’s Canada president John Betts told the Star this week. “This is great food served fast.”

Tim’s, the country’s biggest fast-food chain, expects to have espresso machines in 2,500 of its 3,000 locations by mid-December. McDonalds is installing the McCafe setup in its 1,400 Canadian locations as part of a billion-dollar makeover.

Both plan to undercut Starbucks, with Tim’s offering 10-ounce espresso-based drinks starting at $2, while McDonald’s will charge $2.29, compared with $3.52 at Starbucks.

McDonald’s is backing its effort with a major ad campaign that includes coupons for a free espresso mailed to almost every Canadian home.

The key to the expansion of espresso drinks has been the evolution in the way they’re made. Espresso was once limited to exotic little coffee bars and Italian restaurants, prepared with big, shiny machines that hissed steam.

Starbucks popularized espresso drinks and their baristas manually made lattes and cappuccinos to order, even if the espresso itself was no longer hand-pressed. But new espresso machines are largely automated in preparing all drinks, making them viable for fast food restaurants.

The brewed-coffee landscape is also changing. Wendy’s is introducing a new custom-roast, freshly ground brew at about 100 Canadian locations, the Globe and Mail reports.

In fact, a Globe blind taste test by a panel of coffee experts ranked Wendy’s Redhead Roasters Coffee ahead of McDonald’s, Tim Hortons and Starbucks. The endorsement of Wendy’s coffee was half-hearted but Starbucks’ brew got roasted, so to speak, with terms such as bitter, burnt toast and charred.

Pakistan: International Halal Conference & Expo

Nov 11, 2011 – For the promotion of Halal Industry all over the world an International Conference is being organized on 14- 15 December, 2011 in Lahore. The delegated from 16 countries are participating in the conference with the object to introduce Pakistani halal products to the rest of the world, thereby boosting the exports of Pakistan.
Pakistan happens to be such a country, as top in the world where only Halal products can be produces the entire meat, dairy products and other industries in Food manufacturing are all dependent upon halal ingredients, which enable Pakistan an easy access to the 3trillian dollars halal global market.

Dr. Hamid Jalil the Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Agriculture and Meat Company (PAMCO) under the Government of Punjab, while explaining the objectives of the conference informed that it will be one of the unique type of Conference which will includes the practical aspects of the learning, for which it has been divided into two segments. On the first day the researchers will present their papers based on the research while the second day has been allocated to field visits and on site demonstrations. These visits include a State of the Art facility set-up by PAMCO costing $300 million with the co-operation from Iran, M-3 Halal Industrial Park at Faisalabad, National Institute of Food and Technology (NIFT), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad and a Halal Laboratory set-up at University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore so that that the delegated fro different countries may see the actual research work through these visits.

Dr Hamid said that the objective of PAMCO is to promote Halal Industry through developing Agriculture and Livestock sectors. He further informed that Pakistani products are respected all over the world for being halal the demand for which is increasing day by day. Keeping this in view, PAMCO is strengthening contact with many international institutions, and two further contracts are expected to be signed at the conference.

Mr Zubair Mughal, the Chief Executive Officer – Halal Research Council, added that the conference will provide a great opportunity for Pakistani FMCG sector to get them recognized in the international market, which will help boost the exports from Pakistan and enabling the reduction of budget deficit of Pakistan.

USA: AMCC Spotlights Growing Muslim Market

Savvy marketers are constantly working to stay leading edge — keeping a pulse on consumer trends such as shifting demographics, evolving purchase behaviors and assessing lifestyles and life stages to best identify how their brands can fit into a variety of consumers’ lives. One consumer group that is gaining more attention among multicultural marketing experts is American Muslim consumers.

This group, numbering between six and eight million in the U.S., represents billions in disposable spending power – yet is perhaps the most underserved market in America. The third annual American Muslim Consumer Conference (AMCC), which took place on Oct. 29 in New Brunswick, N.J., addressed the opportunity for companies to reach out to this growing group of consumers.

When marketed to effectively, Muslim consumers remarkably champion brands and provide consistent and continued results, as evidenced by several of the success stories shared during the conference about companies such as Saffron Road Foods and Whole Foods Market. Muslims want brands and retailers to engage with them and say they are willing to open their wallets to those who do.

Consistent with last year’s conference, the AMCC drew both mainstream and Muslim-owned companies and organizations from Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Thomson Reuters to IFANCA, Noor Pharmaceuticals and Modern Eid. This year’s theme, “Multiculturalism & the American Muslim Consumer Market,” addressed the diversity within the Muslim market as it includes a variety of ethnic backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles.

As highlighted in the new book, Marketing to the New Majority, published by leading international research firm Millward Brown, American demographics are changing significantly, and if companies want to survive, they will need to think differently about how they reach various communities, such as Muslims, within our multicultural society.

Many Muslim market experts agree that missing the Muslim market today would be like missing the Hispanic market in the ’90s. For companies in the U.S. that are interested in tapping into the lucrative and loyal Muslim consumer market, the AMCC is a must-attend event. Millions of consumers are waiting for companies to acknowledge and engage with them. As companies are currently planning for the upcoming new fiscal year, how will your brand’s multicultural marketing efforts reach Muslim consumers in 2012?

Australia: Jordanian princess pushes for live export restrictions

A member of Jordan’s royal family is urging the Australian Government to demand higher standards of its live export customers in the Middle East.

Princess Alia Al Hussein says Australia should refuse to export sheep and cattle to any market where stunning is not used before slaughter.

With financial support from the Australian Government and advice from animal advocacy charity Animals Australia, the Princess Alia Foundation has introduced stunning for more than 80 per cent of all livestock slaughtered in Jordan.

The foundation’s goal is a 100 per cent take-up of the Australian standard where animals are stunned with an electric charge or percussive blow to make them unconscious before their throats are cut.

Princess Alia says an Islamic fatwa supporting this method was issued in the 1960s and she believes the practice should be mandatory across the Middle East, where Australia will export 2.6 million sheep and about 200,000 cattle this year.

“I think you do have a right to demand that the creatures you have raised are treated in the right way and especially when it is possible, it is feasible and it’s not that hard to do,” Princess Alia said.

She says Australian chilled and frozen meat is widely imported across the region and is accepted by religious authorities as halal or compliant with Islamic sharia law.

“In Islam halal it’s also about how you treat the animal. You are supposed to lead it to death in a kind way, in a beautiful way,” Princess Alia said.

“So it may sound like an oxymoron but you’re actually supposed to treat it in a good way the whole way along the process, so it’s not just about killing it quickly it’s about not beating it, not stressing it.”

After Animals Australia and ABC TV’s Four Corners program exposed cruel practices in Indonesian abattoirs this year, the Australian Government announced new guidelines last month for the billion-dollar-a-year live export industry.

The blueprint demands compliance in all destination markets with standards set by the OIE, the World Organisation for Animal Health.

It will also require markets to ensure supply chain traceability to approved slaughtering facilities by the end of next year, but falls short of requiring stunning, which is not necessary under the OIE guidelines.

Meat and Livestock Australia’s livestock services manager for the Middle East Peter Dundon says Australian importers will instead try to encourage stunning in the region.

“Stunning is a matter for the importing country government, religious authorities and the importer,” says Mr Dundon.

The chairman of the Bahrain Livestock Company, Ebrahim Zainl, says Australia’s more diplomatic approach has a greater chance of success.

“Stunning is something new to this part of the world and unless it is made as gradual steps [it] could have some sort of negative reaction from the public,” he said.

“And it would not be to the interest of the Australian trade as a whole because people could consider that this is enforcing something which is not acceptable to the public.”

But Animals Australia advocate Lyn White says it is a missed opportunity by Australia to use its commercial leverage to enforce the more humane standard.

“We’ve seen in Indonesia in the past six months that we’ve gone from two to five facilities starting (stunning) to now 70 facilities by the end of the year,” she said.

“That’s because they were concerned at losing their supply of Australian animals, so there is real commercial leverage there and certainly the opportunity was there, and we’re disappointed that it hasn’t been taken.”

Ms White is hopeful that a bill expected to be introduced to Federal Parliament this month by Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie may still achieve a more humane outcome.

If passed, the law would require mandatory stunning in all Australian live export markets.

“We believe there’s considerable support amongst the Coalition and the ALP for stunning in importing markets,” says Ms White.

“You know there is considerable concern about live animal export and the community is not going to accept animals being sent to countries where they are not stunned before slaughter.”