Putrajaya Malaysia was the venue of the ” International Seminar on Halal Food and Products: ‘Challenges and Prospects In Global Market.”‘ The conference was held from the 28th-30th of September, 2004. The event was organized and set at the Marriott Hotel by the Islamic University College of Malaysia (‘Kolej Universiti Islam Malaysia’).

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Sadek, VP. of IFANCA, presented a paper entitled “Monitoring and Enforecement of Halal Food Products.” Dr. Sadek presented IFANCA’s role in setting up a control point styled check system by which the meat slaughtering industry would be monitored. He further went on to describe actions taken to monitor and control gelatin production from Halal sources. Some other products whose manufacturing is monitored which were discussed were French Fries, Flavors, and Nutrition al Supplements. Lastly, Dr. Sadek discussed Halal food laws that are recently being applied in the United States.

ln attendance were a wide spectrum of guests including religious scholars, research scientists, governmental officials, industrialists, professors and others.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Hidayat Buang and Ms. Zalina Zakaria presented a paper covering the regulatory and supervisory aspects of monitoring Malaysia’s Halal food industries. Ms. Noriah Ramli covered the monitoring of Halal food from the legal and administrative perspective in Malaysia. Ms. Dina Imam Supaat, Ms. Abidah Abdul Ghafar and Ms. Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh presented a paper on the provision and enforcement to diminish unlawful use of Halal signs and logos on Malaysian products. Dr. Abdul-Haq Hamiche, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Sharjah University, discussed his studies to deal with the questions of what conditions should be observed for Halal food, and contemporary issues dealing with foods. JAKIM’s Director for Islamic Food and Consumer Goods Research Division, Tn Hj. Che Hassan Pahmi bin Hj. Che Mamat discussed the “Coordination and Standardization of Halal Food Products in Malaysia,” among the various governmental organizations. Issues pertaining to, “Halal Meat and Food Crimes in the U.K.,” were discussed in a paper by John Pointing and Yunes Teinaz. Mr. Rosly Othman and Dr. Suhaiza Hanim Md Zailana presented their paper on the, “Malaysian Food Manufacturers Perceptions and Willingness to Adopt the Standards.” Jalani Sukaimi, Mohd. Suria Affandi Yusoff, and Ahmad Kushairi highlighted issues related to production of palm oil based foods. Dr. Mohammad Lotfi presented a very nice technical paper in which he assessed the humane concerns related to, ” … Non-Penetrating Percussive Captive Bolt Stunning of Cattle ‘Mushroom Head,”‘ as a Halal slaughter process. Dr. Jalani Skaimi and Dr. Salmiah Ahmad discussed palm oil based and oleochemical based products in Malaysia. Dr. Anna Priangani Roswiem highlited Halal certification of non-food products in Malaysia. Thailand’s Halal Science Centre and Laboratory was discussed by Dr. Winai Dahlan. Dr. Suhaiza Zailani, Norzalila, and Mahmood Sabri presented a paper on, “An Empirical Study of Consumer Intention to Purchase Halal Food Products in the Context of Malaysia.” Dr. Yaakob Che Man discussed Halal food processing. A paper on, “Development of Halal Food Biotechnology Perspective,” was presented by Dr. Ahmed Mokhtar, Dr. Jalani Sukaimi, and Dr. Abdul Samat Musa. Zakaria Kamarudin discussed issues related to export of Halal Malaysian products in the world market. Zuraini Anang, Ismail Omar, and Roshanim Koris discussed, “Halal Food and Products in Islam: A Malaysian Perspective.” Development of Halal Food Assurance System (HAFAS) was highlighted by Hamzah Salleh, Radzi Daud, Awang Musa, and Syed Bahaldin. Abd Murad, Muhammad Zarif, and Arif Yusof looked at the use of forbidden materials in medicinal products. Wan Ahmad and Asyraf Rahman discussed the, “Informal Sector in Rural Areas,” and “Knowledge of Halal Food.” “Global Opportunities and Potential Market for Halal Food,” was presented by A.N. Abdullah, Y.B. Che Man, R. Abd Rahman, J. Bojei, and D.B. Mat Hashim. Authentification of Halal meats via a molecular method was presented by Wong, C.M.V.L Chua, H.K. and Son R.

The Conference was packed with substantiative information and was presented in an organized manner. (SA)