MILS in Logistics Insight Asia Magazine - International Developments Dated on Friday, January 01, 2010

In Asia, Malaysia is envisioned to become a global halal hub, supported        by its halal standard (MS 1500:2004), halal brand, halal food,    pharmaceuticals (OTCs, vaccines, vitamins, etc), cosmetics industries, and the development of    halal regional distribution centers.

Under the auspices of the Malaysian government, the Halal Industry     Development Corporation was formed to implement this           ambitious program. As a result of its efforts, various logistics companies are    already halal certified today, such as Century Logistics, CCN and MISC    Logistics as well as ports (like Northport). Aside from Malaysia, Thailand  and Indonesia are also important producers and exporters of halal food.

In the Netherlands, the Port of Rotterdam started with a consortium back in 2005 with Eurofrigo (Cold Room Warehousing) and VAT Logistics (logistics service provider) to provide halal logistics      services and promote the halal gateway to Europe. Over in France, the Port of Marseilles is developing  a halal regional distribution   center in collaboration with Malaysia.

During the World Halal Forum Europe, held in The Hague, the Netherlands, (November 2009), participants and speakers  agreed that halal is no longer a taboo in Europe as awareness about halal products and certification has notably increased over the last couple of years.

Advertising campaigns on halal products, certification and labels are also on   the rise in Europe, particularly in France, which has an estimated five million    Muslim population. There remains a need to harmonize the halal standards in Europe, to simplify halal for the consumer and meet the diverse needs of the European consumers.

With halal now being a global business, led by multinationals        (such as Nestlé),  and with logistics being inherently cross-border,    an international halal   logistics standard is important. Hence,    following the mandate from the Organisation of the Islamic  Conference (OIC), the IHI Alliance was entrusted to harmonize the halal standard and certifi cation system globally.

The Global Halal Standard developed by the IHI Alliance consists of 10 modules with the first (IHI AS 01) on Logistics.              This standard was made public during the World Halal Forum       held in KualaLumpur, Malaysia in May 2009. 

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