Whether halal law and regulation in Malaysia are adequate?

Do we need a
specific halal law?
The term halal has become too common in the society nowadays but for we all know is that it
relates to halal food only which is not true. The concept of halal does not confine to food itself.
Halal products and also services include cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, clothing, financial services
and even tourism. With so many to offer and with the increase of the global halal trade, many
countries are taking several initiatives to capitalize on the growth potential. Malaysia as a
Muslim country has all the elements and well positioned to be the center of the promotion,
distribution and production of halal food, non-food and also service as its parallel to the
Malaysian governments aims to become an international or global halal hub.
Legislation on halal is very crucial in realizing the governments vision because the market
involves the Muslim and non-Muslim manufactures. Thus, the legislation made is able to protect
the consumers interest as well as to facilitate the halal food trade locally and globally since the
act also stand as guidelines to the manufactures. For the time being, the laws and enactments
relating to the enforcement of halal law that currently practiced in Malaysia are mostly focusing
on the halal food areas itself.
Apart from the act and legislation, there were also guidelines and manual introduced by JAKIM
in corporation with various government Ministries, all State Islamic Religious Department or
State Islamic Religious Council that underlines the general requirement for certification. The aim
is to give an understanding and clarification to all inspection officers, manufacturers and the
consumers on halal aspects according to Shariah Laws and Malaysian Law. These guidelines and
manual have been used worldwide and have the potential for utilization as term of references of
other countries as well which indicate the Malaysia halal industry in on the rise.
Although the industry is escalating rapidly towards the goal, so as the increasing number of
forgeries and fraud which have tarnished the noble aim. There were many cases reported on the
deviation of the halal law. Some of the cases reported shows that most of the vendor or
manufacturers of the products had been deceptive and made false representations to consumers;
especially in the usage of Halal label (Mustafa et al, 2014). If the question is to discuss the
whether the halal law and regulation in Malaysia are adequate and do we need a specific halal
law, both is a concur answer.
Halal law pertaining to halal production in Malaysia can be categorized as scattered law as they
cannot be found in one piece as the need to refer to several documents for references. Some of
these enactments are The Trade Description Act 2011 and The Trade Description (Definition of
Halal) Order 2011 which have repelled the previous Trade Description Act 1972 and The Trade
Description (Definition of Halal) Order 1975 respectively which promote good trade practices by
prohibiting false trade descriptions and false or misleading statements, conducts and practices in
relation to the supply of goods and services which this will protect the interest of consumers.
Since halal value also comes with Thoyyib concept meaning good and wholesomeness, the
halal food must also comply with Food Act 1983, Food Regulations 1985 and Food Hygiene

Regulations 2009 and Food Regulation (The issuance of Health Certificate for the Export of Fish
and Fish products to the EU 2009). Others are Custom Order (Prohibition of Imports) 1988,
Local Government Act 1976, Laws on Animal Production: Pharmacist Act 1951, Poisons Act
1952, Animals Act 1953, Animal Importation Order 1962, Meat Inspection Rules 1985 and
Animal Rule 1963.
After the amendments of Trade Description Act 2011, JAKIM has been given the power to carry
out the enforcement against the manufacturers who abuse the use of Halal logo on their products
rather than before the amendments were made, the applied laws and acts related to the
enforcement of Halal were not subject to the jurisdiction of JAKIM. Their jurisdiction was only
on certification process (Kamilah & Mustafa, 2012). In addition, the Trade Description Act 1975
gives way to individuals or private companies to issue its own certificate and Halal logo. This
was because the Order did not state or clarify the names of JAKIM or the State Islamic Religious
Department (JAIN)/ State Islamic Religious Council (MAIN) exclusively as the competent
agencies authorized to issue a Halal certificate and logo (Kamilah & Mustafa, 2012). The
enforcement of Trade Description Act 2011 also ensures that the action can be taken by JAIN,
MAIN and JAKIM towards the non-Muslim who abuse Halal label. Previously Halal is
considered as a matter under Islamic law and is under the jurisdiction of the state which is very
limited only to Muslim (Mustafa & Kamilah, 2012; Mustafa et al, 2014).
The scattered law imposed a challenge to the halal law to be effectively enforced thoroughly.
Although what is practiced by JAKIM or JAIN nowadays the unannounced audit carried out
regularly among the manufacturer that has been Halal certified can be carried out if there were
also a representative of at least officers from KPDNKK to be present together during any audit or
if there were any cases of non-compliance reported by the consumer regarding the Halal matters.
The newly formed Trade Description Act 2011 require the staff from JAKIM to be to cater all
the complains, the regular monitoring among the Halal certified vendors and the increasing
number of fraud that is on the rise since the Halal value and the benefits attracted the
manufacturers and traders. According to Chief Assistant Director of Halal Hub Division JAKIM,
Azizan bin Shaari, in the process of strengthening the Halal enforcement division in Malaysia,
JAKIM is trying to increase the number of competent enforcers to carry out their duties in
accordance with the amended Trade Description Act 2011 (Mustafa & Kamilah, 2012).
The various involvements of parties and agencies roles and functions can cause settling of a case
to be time consuming. This is because, in order to produce a good case, the investigating officers
had to refer to various parties. For an instance, the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operative
and Consumerism (MDTCC) had to refer to the JAIN to verify the authenticity of the Halal
certificate. In terms of verification of the product, whether its pork or not, it is slaughtered or
not, the MDTCC refers to a third party, such as the Department of Chemistry, Ministry of
Health, or the Department of Veterinary Services to see whether the content of the items are as
described. Therefore, the expected settlement is very hard to achieve (Roslan, 2012).
In conclusion, the current Halal law especially the Trade Description Act 2011 gives a huge
positive impact and had lifted the Halal law up to the next level and is considered as sufficient
enough to cater all the issues raised. However, even though this particular act had alleviates the
previous problems, proactive means shall be taken to help catalyst the governments vision into
realization. A specific Halal law shall be developed to ensure the various cases which may

appear can be rectified efficiently. A specific Halal law may cover all aspects of halal and not
only confined to halal food especially in the globalization world the fraud can comes in various
aspects for an instance the forgery of halal aspect in cyber.