Drug firms Eye Halal Certification

MUSHROOMING INTEREST: 39 firms have applied for certification from Jakim so far

KUALA LUMPUR: PHARMACEUTICAL Companies have shown overwhelming interest in obtaining halal certification, introduced earlier this year, from the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim).

Its director-general, Datuk Othman Mustapha, said so far, the department had received applications from 39 companies, of which four have already received the certification.

"Before the launch of MS2424:2012 certification, we used the MS1500:2009 standards where 71 companies that produce health supplements and 141 that produce traditional medicines were given the certification."

He said Jakim now had the expertise to be the main centre for the certification of pharmaceutical products.

"Our halal hub division is not only the centre for certification of eateries, slaughter houses and logistics.

"We now also have experts and specialists to certify pharmaceutical products.

"We have also been exploring new areas to improve our certification process," he said.

Jakim's halal hub division created history when it became the first accreditation body in the world to introduce certification for halal pharmaceutical products.

However, the MS2424:2012 standard only applies to over-the-counter medicines, health supplements and traditional medicines.

"Medicines prescribed by doctors are not given accreditation under this standard," Othman said.

Director-general of health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said they have been working closely with Jakim in developing a more comprehensive Islamic health management practice.

"We are working hand in hand with them to introduce health management that follows Islamic requirements among medical practitioners.

"We have also discussed the use of doubtful pharmaceutical products and use of products that have received halal certification."

He added that the details were being addressed stage by stage.

Malaysia Medical Association president Datuk Dr N. Tharmaseelan said that the demand for halal pharmaceutical products around the world was increasing rapidly.

"The demand for healthcare and halal-certified drugs and vaccines will multiply as economies in Muslim countries expand.

"Malaysia is a well-known halal hub, thus, it opens up a huge market for the local pharmaceutical industry to fulfil the demand."

He said, in Malaysia, almost all medicines and vaccines were halal-compliant and where it is not possible to use halal medicines, the patients would be informed about it.

"Patients, especially Muslims, need to be assured that what they have been prescribed is derived from halal sources.

"Anxiety about the drug content must be addressed in an empathetic manner as confidence speeds the recovery process for patients."

He added that Malaysia had the expertise to become completely halal-compliant in a couple of years, provided there were adequate funds for research.

Brunei Halal brand gets support in S'pore

THE Brunei Halal Brand is enjoying good reception from Singaporean shoppers, especially the Muslim population, who acknowledge the halal certification from Brunei, said a representative from NTUC FairPrice Co-operative Ltd.
Winston Ng, assistant manager of Corporate Communications in an e-mail to The Brunei Times said that the more popular items include the brand's seashell chocolates, biscuits, sparkling juice and instant noodles.
"However, it's too early to comment on any sales figures as we have only launched the range of products some three months ago," said Ng.

NTUC FairPrice, which is run by Singapore's National Trade Union Congress, started offering the Brunei halal products in the middle of October 2010, the first supermarket chain to do so outside the Sultanate.
Around 15 per cent of Singapore's five million people are Muslims.
Brunei's halal brand, which is owned by state company Wafirah Holdings, is handled by Ghanim International Food Corporation, a joint venture company formed in July 2009 by the Brunei government and Hong Kong-based Kerry FSDA.
Kerry Logistics, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based firm, distributes the products. It also handles the products' international freight forwarding and integrated logistics management to ensure compliance with strict halal standards.
Ghanim, on its part, is working with global manufacturers to make products that suit local demand that will need approval by Brunei's halal certification body.
In an earlier statement, Antony Greenstein, Kerry FSDA's director of Global Business, said that the company was confident it would see further opportunities in Asia and Europe "as we roll out the Brunei Halal range of products". Following the Singapore launch, Brunei Halal Brand's Interim Chief Executive Officer said that the brand's marketing and trading agency is looking at two more countries within the region as potential markets.
Noel Shield added: "We are still negotiating with other companies, but to get in a country is not an easy task."
"You can't just turn on the tap as there are a lot of negotiations and hard work involved," he previously said, adding that most importantly, they "needed the right products."
The brand's presence in Singapore marks a significant step for the Sultanate, as efforts to leverage on Brunei's stringent halal certification becomes a reality.
This, Shield said, reinforces what Ghanim has believed all along that the brand has a lot to offer, as product sales across the board have been good.
Further, the Singaporean foray of the brand also shows that efforts to leverage on Brunei's stringent halal certification is now coming to fruition.
"The public's response is way beyond what we expected," Shield said.
"The communities are very much behind the brand and product sales across the range have exceeded (our) expectations."
More than 20 products including cup noodles, noodle nuggets, chocolate, potato chips, prawn crackers, cookies, cheese puffs and sparkling juices, were made available at NTUC's supermarket and stores during the launch.

Courtesy by: Asiaone News

Most halal products lack official approval

Just over a third of all the halal products offered for sale in Indonesia actually have official halal certificates, according food and drug monitoring agencies.

Only 41,495 products — 36.73 percent of all products registered at the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) — had official halal certificates, according to the BPOM.

Lukmanul Hakim, the Indonesian Ulema Council’s (MUI) Food and Drug Analysis Agency chairman, said on Tuesday that there was lack of awareness among manufacturers about the need for halal certification.

Halal certification was needed to show that certain products could be safely consumed Muslims and to ensure that the products could be consumed by all people, regardless of religion, due to the healthy and nutritious ingredients and hygienic production process required for halal products, he said.

“Halal certification will assure that the products are safe both in terms of sharia and hygiene,” he said on the sidelines of a hearing with the House of Representatives’ Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs.

According to government regulations on food labeling and advertising, every manufacturer or importer of products to be circulated in the Indonesian market had to declare that their consumable goods were halal.

They were also responsible for affixing halal labels to their products.

A 1996 Health Ministry regulation stipulated that the MUI’s halal certification process would be based on an edict (fatwa) issued by the council’s commission on the use of product ingredients.

The regulation further stipulated that a agreement letter on the use of halal logos would be issued by the BPOM.

“By attaching a halal logo, a manufacturer ensures that the product is safe for Muslims,” Lukmanul said, adding that such certifications were needed since most Indonesians were Muslim.

In fact, many consumable goods circulating in the domestic market lack halal certificates.

The House of Representatives has been deliberating a bill on halal products that would make it mandatory for food and drugs offered for sale in Indonesia to bear a halal label.

The bill, however, has sparked controversy among manufacturers, who said it would be an additional burden on the national economy. The bill was also criticized as superfluous since existing laws regulating food and drugs were sufficient.

Lukmanul, whose organization and the BPOM have been authorized to issue halal certifications, said the bill would hopefully increase awareness on the importance of certification.

According to a BPOM market survey, 54.9 percent of all products with halal logos that it found offered for sale had not been officially certified halal.

“Not all products with halal logos have official halal certificates,” Lukmanul said, adding that most halal logos were counterfeit.

Lukmanul said the situation was worsening since people were unable to determine whether if the products they purchased were genuinely halal.

BPOM director Kustantinah said the agency had continuously monitored consumable goods safety by intensifying pre-and post-sale controls.

“We still find many products improperly using halal logos, however,” she said.

She said that 357 products of 843 products surveyed by the agency in 2010 improperly displayed halal logos, meaning that they actually had no halal certificates.

Lukmanul said that popular awareness of the importance of halal certifications for daily consumable goods had significantly increased.

Citing a recent report, he said 21,837 products were certified halal in 2010, a 100 percent increase from 2009. About 21 percent of the products certified as halal were imported from the US, the EU, Australia, New Zealand and China, among other countries.

“We have seen a sharp increase in interest among foreign manufacturers to obtain halal certificates for their products. This is part of their strategy to win our market,” he said.

He said Chinese manufacturers’ awareness of halal certifications had increased sharply, as evinced by China’s 21 percent share of halal-certified imported products.

“They may think that a halal certification will increase the competitiveness of their products in the Indonesian market,” he said.

In another hearing session on the bil at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) chairman Soedaryatmo questioned the government’s ability to make the certification obligatory, saying that it had turned blind eye to companies that have refused to comply with the policy.

“It would be better that the certification is voluntary,” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He also said that the existing procedure also burdened micro and small companies as certification officials have asked fees to conduct surveillance on their products.

Courtesy by: The Jakarta Post

Nestle suspends halal products due to pork traces

Nestle (NESN.VX) said on Tuesday it was suspending all production of its Herta halal products after a laboratory found traces of pork.
"We have decided to carry out DNA tests so this will delay deliveries ... As a result we are suspending production in France until we find a new production process," a spokeswoman said.

Retailer Casino (CASP.PA) decided earlier on Tuesday to pull from the shelves halal sausages with the Herta brand. (Reporting by Gerard Bon; Editing by Will Waterman)

Courtesy by: Reuter