What is a halal certificate?
Types of certification:
A halal certificate is a certificate is issued by designated organizations that approve foods, drinks, and commodities, as well as services, as halal based on the organization’s regulations. Currently, different organizations grant their certificates using different regulations. For instance, in Malaysia and Singapore, governmental organizations grant the certification, whereas in the rest of the world, it is more common to see multiple private organizations issue certificates based on their own regulations. Each organization has its own logos.
A new system:
The halal certificate system is rather new and has started to gain significant popularity in the last few decades. Especially in the Middle East, where the majority of the population is Muslim, most people were not familiar with the idea of certifying halal-ness because it was given that most of the foods and commodities in the market were believed to be halal. On the other hand, in regions such as Southeast Asia, where multiple religions and cultures have coexisted, the question of which choices were halal seemed to be important. The concept started to become systemized in the middle of the 1970s, and particularly in the last decade, Muslim minority regions such as Japan also started to recognize its importance due to the advancement of scientific technologies in food production and growing complexities regarding the flow of people and commodities in this global age.
Granting process for the certificate:
The granting process may vary by organization, but in general, the process involves the following three steps: 1) screening the applications for certification, 2) investigating onsite (at the factory, restaurant, etc…), and 3) discussing the certification among key members of the organization, before issuing the certificate. The process requires considerable time as well as financial cost. The certificates are usually valid for only one or two years.
Cases from Malaysia and Japan
Malaysia
In Malaysia, the Department of Islamic Advancement of Malaysia (JAKIM), which supervises Islam-related matters in the country, issues halal certificates based on regulations established by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). There are several regulations each for certain commodities or services. MS1500:2009 (MS stands for Malaysia Standard) contains the guidelines for the regulation of foods, drinks, restaurants, and slaughterhouses, while MS2200:2008 contains the regulations for cosmetics and hygiene products, and MS2594:2015 addresses medical products.
The state departments, together with the state religious institutions, consumers, and producer groups, as well as educational/research institutions, established the halal regulation for foods and drinks (MS1500:2009). In order to issue the certificate, the regulation requires that the products/services meet several criteria, including that they are 1) free from prohibited or unclean animals in its ingredients, 2) physically separated from non-halal foods and drinks during pre-treatment, production, packing, storing, and transportation, and 3) in the case of meat products, processed according to the Islamic method of slaughter.
MS1500:2009 asks that products be free from
1) any animals that are not slaughtered by licensed meat packers according to the proper Islamic way
2) unclean animals such as pigs and dogs
3) animals, such as tigers, bears, elephants, cats, and monkeys, that have fangs used to prey on other animals
4) birds, such as eagles and owls, that have claws used to catch prey
5) animals with disease-causing bacteria or poisons, such as mice, scorpions, and snakes
6) amphibians such as alligators, turtles, or frogs.
Japan
In Japan, religious organizations, private corporations, and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) issue halal certificates. Regulations may vary due to differences in the opinions of their supervisors or affiliated foreign institutions.
In the case of Hanan Chocolate, its halal certification was issued by the Nippon Asia Halal Association, a NPO with qualified instructors with licenses issued by a Malaysian governmental organization. The Nippon Asia Halal Association is also recognized as a halal certification organization by a Singaporean religious corporation.
✿A Comment by Mr. Yoshimura, CEO, Rock Chocolate, Japan✿
To obtain the certificate for Hanan Chocolate, we spent significant time proving that the sugar and the food emulsifier are halal. It was a challenge to find sugar produced without bone char, an ingredient which is standard in sugar processing in Japan. For the food emulsifier, we are using a product made from soybeans instead of dairy products.
