Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA.ir), THE world’s first halal pharmaceutical guidelines by Brunei has evinced the interest of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which could possibly adopt the standard.
“If they adopt our standard, (then it becomes) a universal standard. In other words we would have provided a service to OIC accreditation bodies,” Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar told The Brunei Times in an interview on the sidelines of the Fifth International Halal Market Conference yesterday.
The minister added: “They (OIC and international bodies) look at it as top-notch certification authority because it is government-driven. It is not driven by other bodies. The government has provided the resources to do that.”
He went on to say that as the accreditation process was befittingly stringent, it would not be easy for companies to get accredited.
The minister said the introduction of the world’s first halal pharmaceutical guidelines by Brunei is set to assure Muslims across the globe of the products’ credibility and quality, due to its stringent and uncompromising accreditation standards.
“The government is very strongly behind it (the halal initiative), providing financial resources, providing manpower.”
He went on to say that government backing made the Brunei’s halal standard very stringent and very credible, and helped institute Brunei as a credible authority to certify the accreditation.
“It’s part of our duty, part of our obligation, responsibility to make sure that this halal is not easily compromised or turned into a commercial interest because fardhu kifayah (communal duty) is not something we can play around with,” the minister said.
Speaking on the ideas and views shared on the first day of IHMC yesterday, Pehin Dato Hj Yahya said that the sessions discussed a number of ideas pertaining to the current trends in halal and matters of concern to Muslim as well as non-Muslim consumers.
“Non-Muslim consumers are getting more choosy quality-wise; in Islam that is one of our criteria, the Halalan Thayyiban (permissible and wholesome),” he said.
The minister added that Bruneians were living the Islamic lifestyle from banking, food consumption to the way the Sultanate handles its tourism sector.
Noel Shield, Chief Executive Officer of Ghanim International Food Corporation Sdn Bhd, a joint-venture firm that will manage the use of the country’s premium halal brand to the world, said that most countries do not practise the government-driven style of the certification system. “As I said at the conference (earlier), Brunei’s strength is the strength of its certification system, and I said it without fear of any contradiction that Brunei now leads the world in the (halal) accreditation and certification,” he said.
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