Ahlul Bayt News Agency - ABNA - An expert on Islamic halal food in Belgium thinks that the inclusion of halal certification into the law of European countries would benefit all sides and cut the risks of cheating.
Bruno Bernard said, the only country in Europe which has a law on halal certification is Austria.
"It is the best choice I think for everybody, the Muslims and also the governments, to put everything in the law. It means that there will be no cheating and people will be surer about certification," said Bernard the co-author of a book in French on "Understanding Halal".
Bernard, an advisor to chambers of commerce in several Muslim countries, asserted that his company is the only one which makes an industrial process for halal certification.
"Halal is a part of the problem for exports from Europe. But the industrial process is the most important to see from where the food is originating and then you have the agreement from the religious leader," said Bernard.
"But when you have only the religious approval and you do not know what happened before, the certification has no value".
Bernard said control must begin from where the raw material comes, how they use it right from the beginning of the production to the warehouse, the chemical control, the control of the machine if there are any alcohol or pig contents.
Islam forbids the consumption of pork and alcohol.
Bernard, who is not a Muslim, said he is not doing this for money, noting that he charges only 1,500 Euros for halal certification.
He pointed out that part of the money is used to pay for the Muslim cleric who comes especially from Algeria nearly every week and inspects the production site before deciding whether to issue the halal certificate or not.
Bernard said he calls the cleric especially from a Muslim country "so that he does not have a European mind but more of an Islamic mind." The Belgian expert, who has traveled in the Muslim world extensively, said he respects the Muslim people a lot.
"My job is to give tools to the people and halal certification is a tool," he stressed.
Spot checks of production sites are also made, and in case of fraud, the certificate is cancelled for five years.
Bernard said they are also working on a project to make beer without alcohol called Sultana, especially for women. Another project for hotels to promote culture tourism is also in the making, he added.
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