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Guidelines On Halal Medicines, Food Soon

News From : DagangHalal.com (29 Jul 2009)

Bandar Seri Begawan – Brunei will soon have its very own set of guidelines and standards for the manufacture of halal pharmaceuticals and food products, as well as the designs for the AgriTechnology Park and the establishment of a joint-venture vehicle to promote the Brunei Halal Brand internationally.

These new developments is expected to be announced during the upcoming International Halal Market Conference (IH MC), which will take place on August 1-2 at the International Convention Centre in Berakas.

Abdaihamid David Evans, a senior analyst from the consultancy firm appointed to manage the IHMC disclosed this to The Brunei Times yesterday. However, he did not elaborate on the details of these developments and said that it would only be revealed during the conference itself.

At a media briefing on the IHMC at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Abdaihamid said that Brunei was possibly among one of the first countries, if not the first, to have completed the standards for pharmaceuticals and personal healthcare products. Placing the nation on the “frontline” for developing halal standards.

One of the speakers slated to deliver a presentation during the conference, Zubaidah Mahmud, senior scientific officer at the Department of Pharmaceutical Services. Ministry of Health is expected to delve into detail on the country’s halal pharmaceutical guidelines.

Abdaihamid said this would be a significant milestone and achievement for Brunei. “Brunei has developed a very good halal standard, in terms of being rigorous and attention to detail.” he said. “It makes it clear to anyone in the halal sector that Brunei takes halal very seriously’.

He mentioned aspects of halal practices carried out by Brunei, such as the nation’s insistence on avoiding the use of stunning and the hand-slaughter of animals.

He said that the ulama, or religious scholars around the world, had different views on halal procedures and thus, countries also practiced these procedures differently. However, in light of these differences between international halal procedures. He pointed out that Brunei has gone for the “strictest approach”. “Basically (it means that) a product from Brunei should be halal compliant anywhere else because it should have exceeded the minimum standards of any country.” he said.

He said that once the industry becomes compliant with those standards, it would put the industry in a very strong position.

He added that Brunei’s existing standards were very comprehensive and if the halal pharmaceutical products could match the standard of the nation’s halal foods, this would give the country two “very strong elements” to compete within the halal industry.

Abdalhamid went on to say that the challenge would then be to build from there.

“The challenges for Brunei (then) are not so much to do with standards development. (But rather) about building up local industry.” he said.

Written by Ubaidillah Masli

— Courtesy ofThe Brunei Times

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