ILOILO CITY, Philippines, September 15, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – To meet a rising demand among Filipino consumers, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, a fast growing number of Filipino companies seek Halal certification of their products.

Muslims tend to consume Halal products, especially foodstuff, for obvious religious reasons, but Muslims in the Philippines make only 10% of 84 million population.

In a huge boost to the halal industry, non-Muslims also tend to prefer foodstuff with the Muslim logo thereon, but for health reasons this time.

The public relations office of Victorias Foods Corporation, one of the firms which got Halal certification, in a statement sent to IOL, has said that an increasing number of Filipinos are becoming health-conscious, looking for Halal products they believe not only to be safe but healthy for consumption.

The leading producer of canned fish products said more Filipino consumers are now "conscious of their health" and have come to regard Halal food products as "healthy."

And so the growing demand not only among Muslims but Filipinos of other faiths as well due to "Halal seal quality and health assurance."

Mega Fishing Corporation's press relations office confirmed the same in a statement to IOL, and added that having Halal logo on its products did not only attract Muslim consumers but non-Muslims as well. And their sales have continued to be on the rise.

There are some 50 factories, manufacturing plants and production facilities that were certified to produce Halal food products by the Islamic Da'wah (Call) Council of the Philippines (IDCP) (the largest Halal certification organization in the Asian state) as of this month.

Lawyer Abdul Rahman RT Linzag, president of the IDCP, said more and more companies in the Philippines are applying for Halal certification with their office.

These firms, he said, have realized the growing market demand for Halal foods. "The Halal industry is growing locally and globally. These companies see this trend and want to get a chunk of the Halal market, that is why we have these many applications," he told IOL.

Linzag said exports of Halal products from this Southeast Asian country could grow by as much as 100 percent this year, or US$100 million from last year's $50 million.

The firms seeking Halal logo produce cheese, beverage, milk, sugar, vegetable, seafood, spaghetti, canned, jelly, flour, oil, biscuit, chips, coffee, and chocolate products.

These are also non-food products, like herbal supplements, mouthwash and toothpaste, which have been certified to be Halal. Some 450 products were already certified Halal, says IOL correspondent.

The Arroyo regime is trying to make economic gains from the growing halal business.

But Halal certification, Linzag explained, is different "from merely determining whether a food product can be taken by a Muslim or not."

He pointed out that Halal certification also involves "trust and responsibility on the part of the certifying body."

Trust (amanah in Arabic), he said, is a religious obligation of the certifying body and persons involved in the issuance of certification are answerable to the consumers and to "the Almighty God who is the all-knowing and the final judge."

This means, he said, the IDCP, which is a member of the World Halal Council (WHC) and the Regional Islamic Da'wah Council of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, "accepts the obligation to fulfill the trust imposed by the religion in connection with the verification, analysis and other necessary acts and safeguards to the genuineness and purity without contamination of subject product" before it issues the certification.

The WHC was established on December 6,1999, during a halal seminar held in Jakarta in view of the need for all halal certification bodies world wide to work toward uniformity in regulations and standards of halal supervision and certification.

Linzag further said Halal certification had to also undergo assurance and auditing of the technical matters involved.

The certifying body should be able to determine what type of animal is being used in the production of raw materials or chemical, and whether these are prepared in conformity with established Islamic rules, he explained.

"For example in candy products, you know we really have to know what bones are being used in the production. Is it animal's or human's? We have to be stringent so people are fully assured. And this is not from a health perspective alone but from an Islamic view," he told IOL.

Linzag further stressed that a Halal certification body "should be armed with an international halal standard as its guide" instead of merely relying on certification issued by government regulatory bodies "which are certainly issued based on government standards and requirements alone.

The Philippine government itself saw the potential of the market for Halal products. President Gloria Arroyo ordered the Office of Muslim Affairs to issue Halal certification but was challenged by the IDCP before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the IDCP in 2003 saying it would be in violation of the separation of the church and state as Halal certification and accreditation is a "religious determination."

In Philippine Congress, a bill is being discussed by the Committee on Trade and Industry to institutionalize a competent and internationally acceptable Halal certification and accreditation system for food, non-food products and services
consumed and patronized by Muslims.

Representative Hussin Amin, the bill's author, said in a statement sent earlier to IOL, that the bill's passage into a law would not only substantiate the universal assurance of protection but would also enable the country to grab a chunk of the multi-billion dollar Halal consumer market.

In saying that Halal certification is not only a religious but also an economic concern, Amin said the current demand for Halal products has now reached about US$200 billion worldwide.

Amin added if his proposed law is approved, a Philippine Halal Executive Council shall be created and shall exist for a five-year transitory period. After this period, he said, the council shall be transformed into the Philippine Halal Certification and Accreditation Board.

Teresa Regino, assistant director of the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion, told IOL Tuesday, September 13, if the Philippines could only corner even one percent of global Halal market, it could bring in roughly US$2 billion.

"This would already be a significant source of additional dollar earnings for the government," she said.

Linzag, on the other hand, said, "Halal certification has now become a certification of best quality food or non-food products fit for the use and consumption of man." And the Filipinos are catching up.