Canada backs ARMM's halal certifying board
text EDD K. USMAN

With an estimated US$500-billion global halal industry yearly, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is positioning to gain some in-roads after Canada committed to support ARMM's planned Halal Certification Board (HCB).

The $500 billion figure was an estimate given by a Malaysian trade official based on a market embracing some 1.4 billion Muslims alone.

In the Unites States, halal food industry is now booming, with Washington's 140 restaurants advertising themselves as halal, said zabihah.com, and five states coming out with legislations on the Islamic cuisine.

ARMM Trade Secretary Ishak Mastura bared Canada's support Monday in the first day of the 5th ARMM Business Congress here, saying the Local Governance Support Program in ARMM, a undertaking of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), signed recently a “Partnership Agreement” with the regional Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-ARMM).

“The formation of the Halal Certification Board in ARMM is long overdue. As a Muslim region, access to halal food and non-food products is a fundamental need in the ARMM,” said Mastura.

Islam says “Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.”

Under the Shari\'a (Islamic Law), halal means allowable and, in the consumer world, it is a prescription for Muslims to consume or use only food and non-food products that pass stringent regulations pertaining to cleanliness, hygiene and health from farm to plate.

Simply said, these products must not contain pork or any of its derivatives and other substances that are un-Islamic.

To determine a product\'s halalness, it must be put under strict laboratory examination. Thus, a need for a halal certifying body.

Mastura, one of the organizers of the two-day forum, said this is in line with President Arroyo\'s five-year Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) that gives “full support for ARMM as the production base and processing center for the development of the halal industry.”

Target date for HBCB\'s activation is August this year, he said.

Mastura said halal market in the country already has about 5 to 6 million Muslims, which gives ARMM a “comparative advantage in halal trade.

Technical assistance of LGSPA, a P821.5-million five-year development program, to ARMM are support to the process of organizing the privately-held certification body, developing the Halal Certification Guidelines and the HCB\'s Manual of Operations,” said Mastura.

To ensure the guidelines and manual\'s conformity with the Shari\'a, Jose Deles, LGSPA\'s regional development manager, said Darul Ifta (House of Opinion and the region\'s muftis (high-ranking religious leaders) will be thoroughly consulted.

LGSPA and ARMM will be tapping Ustadhz Esmail Dimarob, Jamil Hamza Olermo, among others to gain wide support for the HCB.

The municipality of Lamitan headed by Mayor Roderick Furigay opened a halal slaughterhouse worth P2.5 million for local consumers.