São Paulo – Over 300 Brazilian companies have already received halal certification, guaranteeing that their products may be consumed in the Muslim countries. Halal certification guarantees that food is produced according to the regulations of Islamic law and, this way, is allowed for consumption by around 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide.
This enormous market has attracted the interest of Brazilian producers of food for over 30 years. According to Ali Saifi, the vice president of the Centre for Promotion of Islam to Latin America (CDIAL), one of the institutions that certifies slaughterhouses for halal slaughter of beef and poultry, some 90% of Brazilian companies are currently getting ready to receive halal certification. "I believe that it is just a matter of time for there to be no company that does not perform halal slaughter," said Saifi.
According to figures supplied by the Brazilian Beef Industry and Exporters Association, in 2008, Brazil exported 290,994 tonnes of raw beef and 14,138 tonnes of processed beef to 16 Islamic countries, Arab and non-Arab.
In 1980, when CDIAL started issuing certification, just three companies accepted to meet with the organisation. The first was Sadia. Today, the centre has already guaranteed sales by 100 companies by granting them halal certification. According to the Federation of Muslim Associations of Brazil (Fambras), which has been supplying halal certification in the country since 1977, there are 200 companies in its list, and not just producers of meats, but also sugar, sweets, scents and other products turned to human consumption.
According to Fambras, the halal product market in the world had a turnover of US$ 580 billion in 2008 alone. "Brazilian companies are clearly conscious of the importance of halal, not questioning the demands necessary for certification. They always show interest in adapting, when it is necessary, understanding that getting halal certification, far from being a hardship, is an addition to the quality and excellence," said the executive director at Fambras, Mohamed El Zoghbi.
*Translated by Mark Ament
