Expert urges tighter control of 'halal' food

JAKARTA (JP): Importing countries should tighten controls on incoming food labeled halal (allowed under Islamic law) to verify the authenticity, an American Islamic organization executive said on Monday.

President of the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) Muhammad Munir Chaudry said there was no guarantee that products were lawful according to Islamic law even if they were certified as allowed.

"The halal certificate can be issued by anybody. It's the role of the importing countries to examine the certificates, how they were issued and who the issuing institutions were," Chaudry told reporters after a seminar on international halal certification held by the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) at Hilton Hotel in Central Jakarta.

"Every certificate is a document which you can trace back down to the slaughterhouse."

Chaudry was commenting on allegedly haram (unlawful under Islamic law) imported chicken thighs from the Unites States, which were categorized as dark meat or remnant cuts.

About 200 tons of dark meat have been imported monthly since earlier this year. They were then distributed to several big cities here.

Chaudry said halal certificates could be issued by anybody in the U.S. because, unlike in Australia and New Zealand, the U.S. government did not want to be involved in the issuance of such certificates.

"The U.S. government's guideline is that meat can be labeled as halal if it is certified by a recognized Islamic organization.

"But the process for the issuance of halal certificates is unclear. There is no information on the Islamic organization which issued the certificates."

Reluctance

He said providing the certification was a business in the U.S., and companies could obtain it through paying US$400 to $500 per shipping container.

"Companies are usually reluctant to meet all the requirements for acquiring the certificates, including a requirement that animals should be slaughtered by Muslims," he said.

"It will cost them more as they must hire Muslims to slaughter the animals."

Separately, the director of the Research Institute for Food, Drugs and Cosmetics of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (LPPOM- MUI), Aisjah Girindra, said the Ministry of Agriculture was the institution with the authority to check on imports of halal- certified food.

"We have no authority to directly check the food. Regarding the imported chicken issue, we have summoned the companies which imported the chicken thighs. They promised that they would follow the regulation but we don't know the reality," she said.

Asking whether MUI would release fatwa (a binding ruling on religious matters), Aisjah said the action would be considered.

She said LPPOM-MUI held data on companies which imported nonallowed food, but declined to mention the number.

Aisjah told participants of the seminar, which was attended by Islamic organizations from the U.S., Australia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Malaysia and Singapore, of the importance of establishing a world halal food council.

"We need to standardize all halal certification procedures which must meet the Islamic law requirements as laid down in the Holy Koran and in line with shariah (Islamic law)," she said.

"Indonesia would like to be the hosting secretariat of the council." (ind)