October 18, 2010
DA pushes for completion of Philippine Halal food standards
The Department of Agriculture (DA) of the Philippines has announced that it would speed-up the development of Halal standards for food commodities for the country to be able to tap the multi-million dollar global market for Halal products.
Director Sani D. Macabalang, head of the DA-Halal Food Industry Development Committee (HFIDC) and DA halal coordinator, said that the country would not be able to compete globally unless these standards which had been initially developed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) are established.
In his report to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Macabalang stressed the importance of the Halal standards noting the lack of harmonized standards and certification procedures observed by various certifiers in the country.
"We cannot remain passive and unperturbed by the current malpractices of certain 'Halal-certified' local processing plants," Macabalang said.
The actual observations made by local and foreign participants of the International Halal Poultry Standards Training Workshop in Cagayan de Oro City on October 5 to 6, this year, following their plant visit to a local poultry processing plant had put the country in bad light.
Accordingly, Halal protocols as taught in the training were not seen in the plant which manufactures so-called Halal poultry chicken.
Macabalang said that the HFIDC came up with the various recommendations to develop the Halal Industry. These include the harmonisation of Halal protocols and procedures by various government agencies, development of Halal certification and accreditation competencies and capability-building of certifying bodies and government Halal food inspectors, auditors and the like in close coordination with NCMF.
Currently, the HFIDC, together with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), encourages the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to initiate the conduct of the said activities.
Moreover, the HFIDC also said that it will submit proposals to various funding agencies including GTZ to pursue enabling mechanisms to prepare the competencies of the government and industry players in the BIMP-EAGA specifically for the Philippines to produce globally competitive Halal products.
Macabalang also challenged the NCMF to immediately convene all certifying bodies and disseminate the standard accreditation protocols that must be practiced.
In a recent meeting of technical working group of DA-HFIDC presided by DA-BAFPS Director Gilbert Layase, participants agreed to present the drafts for the Philippine National Standard on Halal Foods and the Code of Practices for Halal Poultry and Halal Large and Small Ruminants in a public hearing in Metro Manila in November.
