Cambodia launches Halalcertification and label

The official logo that will be carried byproducts that are certified halal. Supplied

A halal certification created by theCambodian government is now available for companies that produce or sell fooditems in the kingdom.

“Now we have our own halal logo which wehave been developing for about 8 years. We call on companies to apply for thislabel to help promote it in Cambodian and abroad,” said Mao Thora, Secretary ofState for the Ministry of Commerce.

Mr Thora was speaking at a workshop onoverseeing and standarising halal certifications for Cambodian restaurants andbutchers.

“Having our own halal logo means thatcompanies will no longer need to use halal certifications from other countriesfor their products,” he said.

Applications will be handled by thesecretariat of the Cambodian halal logo steering committee in conjunction witha technical team, who will evaluate each product to check if they meet therequired standards.

“For the time being, we are mainly focusingon restaurants and some export products,” Mr Thora said.

“We want our halal label to be recognisedall over the world to attract Muslim tourists to Cambodia.”

Sim Mohddaud, member of the Highest Councilfor Islamic Religious Affairs of Cambodia, said that the new label will luremore Muslim tourists into the country, while increasing exports of halalproducts.

“We trust this halal logo as it wasestablished by the Highest Council for Islamic Religious Affairs and theMinistry of Commerce. It will build trust for our products among Muslims andnon-Muslims,” Mr Mohddaud said.

“Now we have many restaurants that claim tobe halal, owned by both Muslims and non-Muslims, but to be trusted, they willnow have to secure the halal label from the ministry.”

Ly Ly Food Industry is the only company tohave obtained the certification thus far. The company also uses a Vietnameseversion of the label.

Keo Mom, CEO of Ly Ly Food Industry, saidnow that a local halal label is available, she will ditch the Vietnamese halalcertification.

“Our sales have increased after securingthis second halal certification because we can send our products to Muslimcountries,” she said.

However, Mr Mom explained that the newlabel is unknown at an international level, which presents a significantimpediment for those hoping to export their products. She said the governmentmust now strive to make the Cambodian halal certification popular beyond thecountry’s borders.

Mr Thora agrees, “from now on, we mustpromote our halal logo globally. To build credibility in our label, we mustwork to make sure our halal tests are very strict.”

Link-> http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50112276/cambodia-launches-halal-certification-and-label/