NewsPCID Kicks Off Development@Work Lecture Series

The lecture started with an opening remark from Prof. Mario Antonio Lopez of the Asian Institute of Management. This recent partnership with the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy, he emphasized, co-branded as Development@Work is a revival of the previous lecture series which concluded on August 2015. The first of the series is titled the Halal Industry and its Impact on the Economy. The Halal industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the Philippines and in Asia because of the growing Muslim population. Its presence and prevalence impacts the economy in the Middle East and the rest of the world where the Muslim population is found.

The opening remark was followed by an introduction of the speaker by Ms. Felice Capote of PCID. She gave some key credentials of the speaker, Ustadz Esmael Ebrahim, which is essential on the topic at hand. Ustadz Ebrahim was the lead facilitator in the development of ARMM’s Halal Certification Guidelines. This Halal Guidelines became the basis of the national government in the development of the National Halal Standard. He was also very instrumental for the development and promotion of Philippine Halal Industry to Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the business wing of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, thru the International Halal Integrity Alliance, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ustadz Ebrahim said that the lecture series aims to give the audience knowledge on issues of the government and of peace. As mentioned, Halal industry is spreading fast in the world today. In the Middle East alone, the presence of Halal is undeniable. It plays a huge part in their economy. Yet Halal has become significant all over the world because of the growing Muslim population that requires a higher demand for Halal products. Based on research, Halal industry all over the world had reached about US$ 1.1 trillion on revenue. There are about 1.7 billion Muslims in the world as of 2015.

Dissected into regions, the Muslim population in Europe reached 56 million that has spending power of about €30 billion annually.  In the United States, there is a substantial 7 million Muslim population who also depend on Halal products. Canada has 1 million Muslims. These numbers show high demand for Halal products even in non-Muslim countries. If we take perspective on Muslim-dominated countries, the demand for Halal is a far greater stake. Kuwait, a small country with about 4 million population consumes about 1.1 million kilograms of buffalo meat and 55 million kilograms of poultry annually. Saudi Arabia has about 32 million population and approximately 30% of its food products are consumed locally. It is also the largest importer of meat products in the region. The Kingdom spends US$ 7.2 billion on imports of meat products with the country’s beef market alone estimated to be SR 1.5 billion a year at 100,000 tons.  United Arab Emirates, another Muslim-dominated country, has an annual consumption of meat growing in conjunction with the population and its tourism industry.  Less than 15% of the meat and poultry is produced locally which means more than 85% of meat and poultry products are to be sourced out through importation. UAE meat imports were valued at US$973-million. Qatar and Bahrain have combined population of approximately 4 million people. These tiny states import chicken meat at an average of 24,000 and 16,000 metric tons a year, respectively.

Among the non-Muslim countries, Brazil is the top exporter of chicken which means Brazil can also contribute to Halal industry. This is followed by Australia, USA, and France. All over the world, the total amount of Halal products amounted to US$190 billion.

While taken locally, the Muslim population in the Philippines only reached around 10% of the whole. However small, this 10% still poses impact in the economy. This 10% of the population is not yet sufficiently tapped by the Halal players in the country. The top brands using Halal certification are Purefoods and San Miguel. The Philippine population had reached 10.7 million in 2017. If given an estimate, each person in this population will spend US$2.5 per day. That will amount to US$26.75 per day or US$802.5 million per month or US$9.63 billion per year.  These numbers only describe a small country like the Philippines but if taken internationally and as a whole, the Muslim population had reached 2142.3 million. In the ASEAN context, Indonesia has the largest Muslim population at 231,096,000 followed by Malaysia at 19,026,000.

Halal, which is the focus of the lecture, is commonly understood as any food that has no pork content. However, taken into Islam context, Halal is an Arabic word that means “permitted” or “allowed based on the Shariah or Islamic Law.” Islamic Law is based on the Quran, Hadith, Ijma’ and Qiyas. A particular food or other consumer product becomes Halal or haram if it is considered so  through any one of the above mentioned sources. Fatwa (religious rulings) issued by competent Islamic Authorities. When used in relation to food and other consumer goods, Halal means “permissible for consumption and use by Muslims.” Another concept Shubhah or Mashbooh means doubtful or suspected are products in which the consumer is not certain of where the product came from and how it is processed. Halal is the opposite of Haram. Halal had become a serious matter in Islam and had grown to be universally considered.

There are fundamentals of Halal to be considered. First, that neither consists or contains any part of an animal that is prohibited by Shariah law. Second, that is does not contain anything which is impure according to the Shariah. Third, that it does not intoxicate or is not hazardous to health. Fourth, that it does not contain any part of human being or its yield. And fifth, that it has not been in contact with, mixed, or in close proximity to any food that fails to satisfy the definition of Halal.

Because of these fundamentals, Halal had become no longer a concept confined or restricted to the slaughtering of animals for the consumption  of a Muslim but encompasses products and  services of the highest quality to meet the ever  increasing awareness and needs of consumers  in a demanding global market. It also stands for just and fair business transactions, caring for animals and the environment, social justice and welfare.

The certification of Halal products had become essentially important both to the consumer and the business owner. The fundamentals of Halal ensure that the product adheres to high hygiene and food safety standards. Halal is the highest standard of food process and preparation. It is over and above HACCP, GMP and ISO standards. Halal slaughter is best practice of animal welfare. Halal food means low-fat, healthy and wholesome. It is also a religious but not ritualistic requirement, thus includes and accommodates a range of consumers, and not only limited to Muslims.

Some developments in Halal in the country can be noted. There is a development of Halal standard on food products drafted by the Department of Trade and Industry, on animal livestock by the Department of Agriculture. Part of the standard is on promotion which includes services, logistics, packaging, branding and marketing, printed and electronic media and travel and tourism. In sum, Halal standards include “farm to table”operations – ports shipping and freight forwarding and warehousing and handling facilities.

There is an increasing global competition among countries like Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore, China, and Australia which capitalize upon the growing Halal Market. Initiatives are being undertaken including trade and investment promotion of Halal certification, Research & Development, and capacity building. Major food producers and exporters are undertaking initiatives to capitalize upon the growth potential of the global market for Halal products and services. Asian Countries are consolidating and strengthening their institutional mechanisms for the development and promotion of Halal certification.

The lecture was followed by an engaging exchange of ideas with the audience. Some of the issues raised are as follows:

• The supply chain in the Philippines is not really keen into Halal compliance which now poses a challenge with leading suppliers such as San Miguel that offers Halal products, their poultry to be exact. As the supply chain is a complex process, one is not certain into what goes in the middle of the process. One example is the feeds given to chickens may not be Halal compliant. Along the process of the supply chain, the Halal compliance may not be met because of one missed step. With this, the supply chain in the Philippines must be strengthened so to meet Halal standards.

 

• There is a sizable number of Filipinos in the Middle East that demand Filipino products. However, certain countries in the Middle East do not allow these products from entering their soils if they are not Halal certified from the country of origin. At some instance, products are sent back to the Philippines to have certified by the IDCP. Because every government has its set of actions for production and quality, the Philippines must ink a Mutual Recognition Agreement with the government of Pakistan and United Arab Emirates to ensure that all our products are accepted for consumption in their soils. The process of recognition is a matter of asking assistance from the Department of Trade and Industry.