KUALA LUMPUR: Bumiputera products do not necessarily become halal automatically, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Fuziah Salleh.
“When you are a Bumiputera industry player, it does not make your product automatically halal. That’s not the mindset that we have. What we are saying is the principle of ‘Halalan Toyyiban’.
“Some Malay Bumiputeras do not adhere to this principle. You go to the kitchen, it may not be clean. It’s about educating people about the principle,” she told a press conference at Global Halal Summit 2019 here today.
Fuziah said Muslim entrepreneurs who want to be an industry player and global leaders need to break away from the mindset that takes “Halalan Toyyiban” for granted.
Meanwhile, Fuziah said based on the potentials of the global Islamic economy, a lot of the industry players all over the world were interested to produce halal products for export to other countries.
“Therefore, halal industry players must obtain the halal certification from credible bodies to convince customers. They must ensure the logos or certificates are accepted by authorities in the importing countries.
“As of Feb 13, Jakim has recognised 78 foreign halal certification bodies in 45 countries worldwide. This figure is expected to grow in the future. Currently, we have 40 more international halal bodies to be recognised by Jakim,” she said.
On other developments, Fuziah said the proposal for the Malaysian Halal Council Act aimed at coordinating all halal agencies under Jakim to ensure the standard of halal certification is at its best, has been drafted and would be tabled in Parliament. – Bernama
