Brunei Stakes a Claim to Halal Standards & Certification Services

Putting Brunei on the map
Brunei’s International Halal Products Expo and Conference seems set to become a regular feature of the Halal industry events calendar.

For those of us who attended the inaugural event in 2006, the first thing we noticed was that this years expo was twice the size with around 150 exhibitors, with a strong overseas representation.

Just as significantly, the 2007 conference brought together a strong group of speakers from around the world This created a kind of ad hoc Halal Industry think-tank whose comments and insights, both on and off the stage, was of benefit to the hosts and delegates alike.

There is clearly a great benefit from hosting events such as this one. Even if it does not, in its early years, generate a great deal of tangible trade, from a strategic planning and developmental perspective, bringing in some of the industry’s best and brightest can only be a good idea.

While the conference sessions during the two day event provided, for the most part, consistently high quality material, the most interesting discussions and meetings, as is often the case, took place on the sidelines.

With industry specialists from the UK, USA, Canada, Malaysia, the UAE, Australia, Thailand, Philippines and more, this became an excellent opportunity for the Brunei authorities to take advantage of so much collective excellence.

And indeed they did make good use of the opportunity. At a dinner for the speakers on the final evening, attended by three senior ministers (and their loyal team of transcribers), there was an open and frank discussion on the real issues in the Halal market, and how Brunei can best take advantage of their opportunities.

Setting Standards
Clearly Brunei have come a long way since 2006. Without a developed food production industry, little in the way of raw materials or trade in Halal products, the Sultanate has decided that their best opportunity to play a significant role in the Halal market is through developing their Brunei Halal brand.

Given that the realm of Halal standards and certification is still something of a free-for-all, this
is a strategically sound move by Brunei.

Producers are looking for reliable, transparent and professional certification services, and if Brunei can offer this they will have done the industry at large a valuable service.

With 20 overseas companies now signed up in MOU agreements with Brunei, things are seemingly on the move.

Most impressive, however, was the handsome set of six A4 booklets on Halal standards, certification, auditing procedures and accreditation that were given out at the event. Not to mention a book of foodrelated Fatwas from the State Mufti’s Office.

These publications clearly show that the authorities in Brunei are taking this project seriously, and make them immediate contenders for setting benchmark parameters for Halal compliance.

Lack of Leadership
The current confusion...or shall we just call it a lack of clarity...on the subject of Halal standards and procedures is a symptom of the larger issue of the absence of real leadership in the Muslim world.

The current problems regarding a lack of leadership, from the Halal market perspective come in three flavours.

While Malaysia have laid a claim to taking a leadership role, they seem to get ensnared in their own internal domestic politics, so that the Halal issue is less about serving the needs of the market - even domestically - and more of a political football with all the players fighting for possession. Hardly the best way to score a goal as any pundit will tell you.

Next there is the Arab heartland, where Halal is, from an industry perspective, only just appearing on the map. As a huge consumer market, the GCC countries have been slow to recognise the inherent power of the Halal market. If they were to agree on a unified set of parameters for Halal products, this would have a huge impact on the market. Free from all the inherent inefficiencies of the democratic process, the GCC countries have the potential advantage of being able to move at speed - if they decide to.

Lastly there are the Muslim minorities in the non-Muslim lands, many of whom have become activeplayers in both production and certification of Halal products. The natural differences of culture and madhhab are subjected to the pressures of trying to do business in an often semihostile environment, leading usually to further division rather than a collective sense of unity.

And so where might leadership appear? While Brunei may be considered by many to be too small to make any real impact, they do have the advantage of being an Islamic Sultanate, and are therefore able to be nimble in their decison-making and implementation.

Certainly their recent set of Halal industry publications indicate they they have the desire and the potential to play an important role.

The key to success - both for Brunei and perhaps the rest of us also - is to see some strategic high-level alliances at work.

If Brunei was able to join forces with other entities in the Islamic world that are also under direct and legitimate rule (from an Islamic perspective), such as the Emirates and Monarchies of the Arab world, we might be able to at least put together a group of leaders who can actually make and implement decisions at a speed that will realistically serve the interests of industry.

Halal is not complicated. The food industry has become complicated and highly technical. The political decisonmaking processes are complicated and highly inefficient, except in those places where leaders have direct authority and responsibility...at the same time.

Alliances Appearing
Also noteworthy in Brunei was the appearance of several Halal Industry Alliances from various parts of the world, creating both opportunity and challenge.

Canada’s partcipation under the Canadian Halal Exporters Alliance sent a clear signal that they have an expressed intention to take this market seriously, and there seems little doubt that the Halal market holds many opportunities for Canadian beef to recover from the BSE-related problems and get back into international markets.

Similarly, the presence of the American Halal Association, led by Ahmad Adam of Crescent Foods in Chicago, offers an avenue for collective common interest to work together in the USA.

The International Halal Integrity Alliance, or IHI, was also there in Brunei, and while this entity, as a product of the World Halal Forum, should offer a natural umbrella for the other national Associations, one gets the impression that the IHI is still trying to escape its Malaysian birth to become the global citizen that everyone is hoping for.

A week may be a long time in politics, and maybe a few months is a short time in the Halal industry - time is relative of course. But it seems clear to us that the industry as a whole is now trying to move to the next level and fulfill the aspirations that have been expressed over the last two years.

However, the overall impression that remained after the Brunei Halal event was one of optimism for the future, tinged with a slight frustration that things could be moving more quickly if only we could find the right button to push.

Place, Time & People
At this stage, it appears that all of the ingredients are on the kitchen table, but the recipe is not yet clear. The right people with a great diversity of skills are assembled, but the roles are not yet allocated. The season seems to have arrived, but it is not quite yet time...and yet it all seems so close.

Against the backdrop of global geopolitics, the emergence of Halal as the defining parameter for a new market paradigm is a matter of real significance, for it provides a common ground, respected and desired across the divides of faith, culture and geography.

The Halal market is the ground on which an alliance of civilisations can engage in the ancient practices of production, manufacture and trade under the wisdom of the Islamic Shariah.

That this new paradigm is emerging is evident; that the Muslims must set and protect its parameters is imperative; that it will bring great benefit is clear; as for who will step into the driver’s seat, it is a destiny...and we watch with interest.

By Hajj Abdalhamid Evans. He can be contacted at hamid@imaratconsultants.com