DUBAI: The Philippines is poised to grab a larger slice of the global halal market following the certification of the Manila office of UAE’s leading quality and compliance solutions provider, Prime Certification & Inspection Co.
Prime Certification and Inspection’s Managing Director Salah Ameen Mohammed said the halal certification now makes its Manila office fully operational. This paves the way for the Philippines to position itself as one of the major halal-certified players not only in the Asean region but also to the global market, he said.
Mohammed said the halal certification will also enhance the influx of Philippine products to the UAE, which is home to nearly a million Filipinos.
“The Philippines is one of our strategic regions and we are concentrating on it. With our Manila office already halal certified, the next step for us is to set up a laboratory for testing products,” said Mohammed.
The Department of Trade and Industry pegs the global halal market at $3.2 trillion and this is projected to grow to as much as $10 trillion by 2030. While the Philippines has the potential to go into the mainstream halal market, the lack of authorized certifiers poses a major problem.
The halal certification of Prime’s Manila office is a welcome move for Philippine exporters to the UAE considering that many certification bodies in the Philippines are not recognized in the UAE. Prime’s main goal this year is to help more Philippine exporters get halal certified, said Prime Certification and Testing CEO Mary Jane Alvero.
“Testing is part of the system because it serves as validation of products, so it’s important that companies and products are fully halal certified and compliant. Halal certification not only covers products but the entire process of producing them,” said Alvero.
Expansion is also in the horizon for Prime. Mohammed said the company plans to expand to other regions like Vietnam, Indonesia and China. The company has just opened an office in India this month.
The company is also eyeing expansion to other regions like Vietnam, Indonesia and China. Already, the company opened an office in India late last year, said Alvero.
Yes, I do strongly agrees to it There is a difference between products being haram and halal. Currently, products are checked to see whether they contain elements of pork, and if they do they are haram. But for a product to be halal, there is a certain process that needs to be followed.
Recently an article came up in khaleejtimes Where Hassan Bayrakdar, founder and managing director of Raqam Consultancy,said that it would be difficult for many SMEs to apply certain halal standards especially in some areas such as transporting and storage of food products.