The issuance of halal certificates for new menus developed by entrepreneurs or food product manufacturers who already have the certificate will be accelerated, said Director General of the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) Datuk Hakimah Mohd Yusoff.
She said Jakim and the Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) are planning to improve the application procedure for halal certification, including examining methods to speed up halal certification for new menu applications.
“Usually premises operators or food product manufacturers who apply for a halal certificate for this new product already have a halal certificate.
“They will use the same ingredients or ingredients in the new menu, so we will try to speed up applications like this,” she told reporters after attending the 2023 National Level Halal Literacy Program with Imams today.
Hakimah said any new method that will be decided in the future will not compromise the existing halal certificate application procedure that complies with syariah requirements and the international standard ISO/IEC 17065.
On 23 March, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported to have said that the Malaysian Halal Council Meeting agreed that a new mechanism or process needs to be implemented to speed up the process of issuing halal certificates.
Jakim was recognised as the first halal certification body in the country when it obtained ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation approval on 10 Oct 2020 after undergoing several stages of rigorous evaluation by the Malaysian Standards Department (Standards Malaysia).
Meanwhile, Hakimah said the Halal Literacy Program with Imams at the National Level 2023 was held to channel information related to halal issues to the relevant groups who are often referred to by the community in their respective areas in matters related to religion.
“The dissemination of authentic and accurate statements from imams is a factor in any news or information (related to halal issues) being easily accepted by the community, especially Muslims. I see that the function of the mosque can be used as a one-stop center for the local community to get information related to halal,” she said.
Describing the group of imams as ambassadors of Jakim, she said the role of the group can help deal with the spread of information and fake news related to halal issues on social media.
