Halal tag as marketing tool to spur certification

Muscat: If companies in Oman are made aware about the advantages of halal certification, more of them will seek the tag, experts said.
They added that halal certification was not just a requirement of Muslim society, but a very effective marketing tool as well.
Halal, which is Arabic for permissible, refers to what is lawful under the sharia or Islamic law. In this context, it refers to food that does not contain ingredients that are regarded impermissible. This includes, but is not limited to the method the lawful zabiha method of slaughtering animals.
Mufti Zeeshan Abdul Aziz is a theological director at International Halal Certification, an organisation based in Pakistan but is active in 15 countries, including Oman, among other Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).
He said that there halal certification was a relatively new phenomenon in Oman, but there was great potential for it.
“Oman is a new entrant in the global halal market. There were many companies in Oman that got halal certified, thanks to certain conferences organised in the country. This is a relatively new phenomenon, but there is a good chance for this trend to grow.
“However, if you compare it to other countries, the halal certification ratio in Oman is very low. There is a need to make people aware and tell companies about the potential of halal. This includes the Islamic obligation angle and making them aware about halal as a branding tool.
“We also need to educate consumers, industrial stake holders and manufacturers. Oman is importing many products from Europe, America and other parts of the world. We should make sure that the products coming into are authentically halal and don’t contain doubtful substances,” Mufti Zeeshan said.
Dr Sirajuddin Suhaimee, director, Halal Hub Division, Department of Islamic Devlopment Malaysia, who has been involved in harmonising halal standards around the world, said that halal certification didn’t only apply to food.
“Halal certification is not limited to food, it includes cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, logistics, consumer goods and medical devices,” he said.
Suhaimee added that Oman will face the same challenges as the rest of the Muslim world when it comes to halal certification.
“The first question they’ll ask is why they need to get this halal certification, since they are Muslim. I’m sure Oman is facing the same problem. They believe that all products produced by Muslims are halal, when that is not the case.
“I believe that if the consumers are educated, they’ll demand that the companies make their products halal certified and the latter will comply,” he said.
Hamid Lateef is the CEO of Fahm Ul Halal, a Pakistan-based company that provides consultancy services to companies that want to comply to standards that make their food products halal.
Lateef said that challenges were inclusion of ingredients such as whey powder, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), alcohol, E-120 (carmine) and gelatin in our foods, besides processes like stunning and mechanical slaughtering.