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ICCI-IHI ALLIANCE HALAL STANDARD: A STEP CLOSER TOWARDS GLOBAL HARMONISATION

Posted on 30 June 2010

The World Halal Forum 2010 saw the debut of the highly anticipated ICCI-IHI Alliance Halal Standard published modules to an overwhelming audience of Halal industry stakeholders who gathered in Kuala Lumpur for the 5^th edition of the Forum.

In the historic ceremony, Malaysia’s Prime Minister the Honorable Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak witnessed a symbolic handover of the first copy of Logistics, Food Services, Slaughtering and Processing and Animal Welfare modules from the CEO of IHI Alliance, Darhim Hashim to Dr. Hani Mansour Al Mazeedi who was representing the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI).

Najib in his keynote address praised the commending effort of IHI Alliance citing the initiative as a major milestone that will solidify the country’s position as a catalyst to the global Halal market that holds an estimated market worth of USD2.3 trillion annually. He also added that IHI Alliance was on its way to establish itself as the global Halal authority and may begin the process of unifying a fragmented community.

The four Standard modules were initially released as drafts during last year’s World Halal Forum before undergoing a public review period from 4 May 2009 to 31 December 2009. Comments and suggestions were compiled and incorporated into revisions before all modules were submitted to the IHI Alliance Shariah Board for final approval.

“The ICCI-IHI Alliance Halal Standard takes a holistic approach in addressing all activities in the supply chain, hence the modules,” said Darhim speaking to a room packed with reporters during press conference after the launching ceremony. “The standards are also a starting point for companies which are clueless as to where to start. We see interest from non-majority Muslim countries, which have begun to realise the potential of the Halal industry.”

According to Darhim, the Standard will play a greater role to broaden the harmonisation of the fragmented Halal industry and ultimately spur the next leap forward to improve market accessibility of Halal goods and services among 57 OIC country states and the rest of the world.

IHI Alliance was mandated to develop a global Halal standard following the resolution at the inaugural World Halal Forum in 2006. This mandate was further strengthened when IHI Alliance formed a strategic collaboration with ICCI, a key affiliated organ that has been entrusted to spearhead the global Halal agenda of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). ICCI represents the private sector of the 57 OIC member countries and its partnership with IHI Alliance was formalised at the General Assembly held in Doha, Qatar in April 2010.

The ICCI-IHI Alliance Halal Standard was developed in accordance to guidelines adapted from ISO/IEC (The International Organization for Standardization / the International Electrotechnical Commission), Guidelines for International Standards Development, while adhering to WTO-TBT (World Trade Organisation-Technical Barriers to Trade) Code of Good Practice for Standards Development. The Standard also refers to Malaysia Halal standard MS 1500:2009, Halal Food – Production, Preparation, Handling and Storage - General Guidelines (Second Revision).

At the Forum, IHI Alliance also introduced another four new draft modules. Laboratory and Testing, Animal Feed, Food Processing and Cosmetics and Toiletries modules were released for a period of public review until the end of December 2010.

On the second day of World Halal Forum, IHI Alliance signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Penang International Halal Hub and International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in two separate ceremonies. The collaboration with PIHH will have IHI Alliance assisting the developmental agency with their Halal training programmes while The MoU signed with IIUM highlighted a new working relationship for both parties in Halal standard development.