The National Independent Halaal Trust (NIHT) has confirmed its attendance at the general meeting of the World Halaal Council (WHC) next month, which is set to take place in China. Speaking to VOC News on VOC's Halaal Focus programme on Wednesday, the halaal certifier's chief executive officer, Moulana Abdul Wahab Wookay explained that this year's forum will see the election of new representatives to further the objectives of the global body, which was established in 1999 to set up a uniformed system of halaal certification.

"The WHC is an association of certifying bodies from different parts of the world. These include South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Germany and Switzerland - to name but a few. The aim of this body is to set up a uniform system of halaal certification, taking into consideration that each country has its own mindset."

Inactive body

Wookay said that despite being around for a decade, the body was relatively inactive for the most part. However, more recently there has been some movement to find ‘commonality between the various representative organisations' which he says will make it much easier for each body to accept the others halaal certification.

"Since 2005, we have seen a shift in the WHC's operations. In 2007, the first elections were held and the executive structure was changed. There has since been movement forward including the Constitution of the organisation being finalised," he said.

When asked about the differences between other global bodies such as the World Halaal Forum (WHF) and the WHC, both established to promote the halaal industry, the alim explained: "The WHF is a privately owned company from Malaysia which hosts a series of exhibitions and symposiums. The WHC is an association of halaal certifying bodies which is in the field of certification. The WHF does not actively do halaal certification."

Although great strides have been taken in the global halaal industry, Wookay said that not enough is being done to promote halaal in developing countries, especially on the African continent. "We have a good interaction with the halaal certifying bodies, specifically in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia where there is constant communication...and also in some countries like Egypt where there is interaction on a governmental level when is comes to the importing and exporting of products.

Well organised

"We have to take into consideration and cognisance of the fact that 49% of the Muslim population if not more, of this continent, are Muslim. In terms of the continent, South Africa's halaal standards are well recognised because we are net exporters to many of these countries," he said.

With the WHC's ‘global standard' already finalised and in place, Wookay says that this document assists member countries in identifying and accepting products and services as being halaal complaint. He said that countries such as Mauritius, have taken this forwards by implementing an interactive service for consumers to confirm whether a product is certified.

"In Mauritius, they have set up a system where you can send a sms to query whether a particular product or service is halaal compliant. Taking this approved global standard into account, an accord of acceptance which has been accepted and ratified by the WHC's member bodies, any query will be followed up with a message to confirm who the halaal certifier is. This is groundbreaking stuff..." he excitedly said.

The agenda for the WHC general meeting is yet to be confirmed, the meeting is set to take place from the 9^th until the 12^th November in Chinese province of Shandong, which will see new office bearers elected. VOC (Shanaaz Ebrahim)