The concept of halal supply chain has increasingly attracted businesses in recent times and thus to understand its practices and certification, the Institute of Halal Management and Science (IHALALMAS), Faculty of Business and Management (FBM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Malaysia took the initiative to organise two webinars late last year.
The first webinar on 16th July 2020 discussed the challenges faced by the certification and standard body in conducting audits during the pandemic Covid-19. The two panelists were Ustaz Muhammad Hawari Hassan, Senior Assistant Director from the Research Division, Department of Islamic Development of Malaysia (JAKIM) and Ms Fakheezah Borhan, Senior Assistant Director from the Standardisation Division, Department of Standards Malaysia, and the session was moderated by Dr Harlina Suzana Jaafar from IHALALMAS.
The second webinar on 27th August 2020, moderated by Dr Yuslina Liza Mohd Yusof from IHALALMAS also had a similar theme but discussed on challenges during the pandemic from the industry perspective. The three panellists Mr Mohamad Asraf Latif from Quanterm Logistics, Mr Mohamad Safuan Zulkifli from Pos Logistics Bhd and Mr Fakaruddin Hj Harun from Lulu Group Retail Sdn Bhd discussed the challenges faced in managing halal related activities in transportation, warehousing and retail in order to be sustainable during the pandemic.
Halal supply chain constitutes the process of producing halal products and not only encompasses the production process, but also involves all activities throughout the supply chain from the source of supply, handling, storage, warehousing, manufacturing, until the transportation activities. Throughout these supply chain activities, various circumstances could expose the halal products into risks of contamination with anything that is forbidden by Islamic law and hazardous elements that would affect the status of a halal product.
With the development of certification schemes of MS2400(1) Transportation, MS2400(2) Warehousing and Related Activities and MS2400(3) Retailing by the Department of Standard Malaysia, industries have begun to realise the importance of halal supply chain in their business.