Philippines: NCMF To Activate Halal Board Category: Home, Industry News UK & World

Tags: Halal | halal Board | halal certification | philippines | The National Commission Muslim Filipinos (NCMF)

5/8/12 www.mb.com.ph

By EDD K. USMAN

MANILA, Philippines — The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) is moving to activate its Halal Board which oversees accreditation of makers of Shar’iah-compliant products.

The NCMF headed by Secretary Mehol K. Sadain needs a halal body to process applicants for accreditation. The NCMF chief executive officer (CEO) said the NCMF will soon tackle the accreditation of halal certifying bodies (HCBs).

“Next in the agenda of business for the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos is the activation of its Halal Board and the resumption of the accreditation work for Halal certifying bodies,” said Sadain.

“The Commission will be activating its Halal Board immediately,” said Ustadhz Esmael Ebrahim, one of NCMF’s nine commissioners, noting that there are already applicants for accreditation.

He said the Commission needs the the Halal Board to give accreditation to qualified HCBs.

One of the HCBs that applied for accreditation is the Islamic Da’wah Council of the Philippines (IDCP), said Ebrahim.

He said the Halal Board will be chaired by the NCMF secretary and directors of the Bureau of External Relations (NCMF-BER), Bureau of Muslim Economic Affairs (NCMF-BMEA), Bureau of Legal Affairs (NCMF-BMEA), and others.

Ebrahim is the commissioner-in-charge for halal activities

There are many HCBs engage in the certification of consumer products as Shar’iah compliant in the country but no government body is regulating them.

Muslim consumers, who prefer halal-certified products, have no assurance or protection from “fly-by-night” HCBs. Islamic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) collect, or at least, receive money from companies which offer their products for halal certification.

“Halal” is an Arabic term that means permissible. Meaning in order to be branded halal, a product must pass through laboratory tests to determine if it has no un-Islamic substances, such as pork and its derivatives, among others.