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@Halal | november-december. 2019
Industry talk
By Azmi Abd Aziz
Technical Assoc Director, Global Haltech
Integrity
in halal manufacturing
Halal practices integrity (HPI) to sustain
halal compliance in Malaysian industry
O
ne of the most important con-
cepts in Islam is the concept
of halal, and the halal industry
plays an important role globally,
especially among the Muslim
society.
The ever-increasing demand
The demand for halal products, either for food
or non-food products, is increasing from day
to day, giving us an indicator of how impor-
tant JAKIM halal certification has become. It
has become THE benchmark for international
halal certification and accepted in many
countries around the world.
The halal industry has become one of
the new manufacturing sectors and among
the fastest growing businesses as well, and
halal products and services could just be the
sector that may help in our country’s overall
economic growth.
The certification that matters
The halal status of a product solely lies on
manufacturers following several strict
requirements, which takes into account the
whole process from the ingredients used all
the way to packaging of the products.
The Malaysian government established
Halal Development Corporation (HDC) on
Sept 18, 2006. The halal industry in Malaysia
is consistently observed by the Halal Industry
Development Corporation, which promotes
not only a healthy lifestyle, but also through
clothing and other activities.
JAKIM was established on Jan 1, 1997 and
is a responsible organisation for issuing halal
certification for export and import products.
The certification process refers to JAKIM
Manual Procedure for Malaysian Halal Certifi-
cation (third version) 2014. Halal certification
becomes the guide to prepare
ways to keep an upright
vision on Halal products
and the ‘halalan-toyyiban’
system would be useful to
fix the products’ quality.
To be in line with the
implementation of global quality standard
such ISO, JAKIM has embarked on the devel-
opment of halal assurance system known
as MS1500:2009 General Guidelines on the
Production, Preparation, Handling and Stor-
age of Halal Food.
Standards to adhere to
The development of the MS1500:2009 stan-
dard was based on ISO methodologies and
in compliance with other quality standards
such as MS1514:2009 Good Manufacturing
Practice (GMP), to meet the requirements of
Malaysian Food Hygiene Regulations 2009
and Food Regulations 1985 and MS1480:2007
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point
(HACPP), which is a scientific, rational
and systematic approach to the identifica-
tion, assessment and control of hazards to
ensure that the food is safe for human
consumption.
This is to ensure that the MS1500:2009
halal standard also addresses issues related to
cleanliness, hygiene and food safety aspects
of the processing and preparation of halal
food.
Integrity issues
However, the halal compliance is not properly
sustained. Many issues were surfaced such as:
. JAKIM has found that claims made by
manufacturers in which their products
are halal are just not good enough (Ngah et
al., 2015).
1
2
3
4
5
. Several issues such as detection of pig-DNA
and non-compliance to halal requirements
(Kamisah, 2016).
. Many businesses have been found to
use confusing statements, and the halal
logo, regarding their products and services
(Norasekin et al., 2018).
. The audits are non-sustainable in the long
run in ensuring the survival of the food
industries (Roth, 2008).
. Having halal standard regulation
MS1500:2009 alone does not guarantee that
products are halal at the point of consumption.
This has shaken the confidence of Muslim
consumers towards halal integrity. Sustaining
the integrity of halal products has become a
priority for the government and the consum-
ers. It is an obligation for Muslim consumers
to have trust or confidence that the goods they
use and consume are halal, hygienic and safe
as to comply with Islamic principles (Manzo-
uri et al., 2013)
Characteristics of Halal
Practices Integrity (HPI):
A
B
C
. These practices ensure that the people,
the process and the resources that deliver
integrity of halal products are Shariah-
compliant along with the supply chain.
. It requires trust from both buyers and
suppliers, and the halal supply chain is
based on trust (Tieman, 2011)
. These practices can be successfully
established through the halal supply chain
process as the confidence in an exchange
partner’s reliability and integrity (Morgan and
Hunt., 1994)
Integrity is the platform on which suc-
cessful performance is built (Palanski and
Yammarino, 211). The supply chain of halal
industries should use indicators by adding
the performance measurement systems.
This can ensure that the supply chains are
not only efficient but also effective in protect-
ing and sustaining halal integrity and being
robust in its supply chain execution. From
the past study, it was shown that high level
trust leads to successful supply chain
performance.
An effective traceability system of halal
food industry needs the local halal supply
chain to be developed and modelled as an
important aspect for the industry to survive
in the global halal food and industry.
In conclusion, halal traceability allows
industry stakeholders to detect and track
vital information at each stage of production,
subsequently allowing reduction in the with-
drawal of the product and the number of cases
of compliance found by authorities which will
result in a negative impact on the growth of
this industry.