KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — Always wanted to get a "halal” certificate for your restaurant to reassure your Muslim customers that the food you sell is allowed to be eaten in Islam, but just did not know where to start?

Here’s a quick summary of what you need to know, based on information from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia’s (Jakim) Halal Malaysia Portal website and its 119-page manual published in 2020.

1. How is ‘halal’ described in Malaysia’s laws?

Based on the Trade Descriptions (Definition of Halal) Order 2011, which is a gazetted law in Malaysia, this is what food described as "halal” means:

• does not have any part of an animal prohibited for Muslim consumption/ animal not slaughtered according to Islamic laws
• does not contain anything impure
• did not touch/mix with/near any impure or non-halal food during preparation, processing, storage
• not prepared/processed/manufactured with instrument contaminated with impure things
• does not intoxicate/not poisonous or hazardous to health

2. Who can apply?

First of all, it’s not just restaurants that can apply for a halal certificate in Malaysia.

So yes, under the "food premises” category, you can apply if you operate a place where food is prepared and sold: restaurant/cafe/food court/bakery/cake and pastry shop/canteen/fast food restaurant/franchise restaurant/kiosk/hotel kitchen/catering/food truck.

Businesses in these eight other categories can also apply for a halal certificate:

• food and beverage products
• cosmetic products
• pharmaceutical products
• goods
• logistic services
• abattoirs or slaughterhouses
• original equipment manufacturers (OEM)
• medical devices

3. How much does getting a halal certificate in Malaysia cost?

While the application fee or annual renewal fee for a halal certificate for a restaurant appears to be relatively affordable at RM100 per premises, there could be other costs that a business might have to bear to satisfy the conditions for halal certification.

4. What are the conditions to get a halal certificate?

In Jakim’s manual, there are 17 areas that are general conditions to fulfil. Most of them emphasise hygiene and cover:

• raw ingredients (e.g. halal/ halal certified); product, menu and services
• processing; worship elements and tools not allowed in the processing area
• tools and equipment (use for halal ingredients only, cannot be rusty or have toxic materials)
• packaging, labelling and advertising
• transportation and distribution
• storage; premises; sanitisation; (e.g. regular pest control)
• workers; workers’ welfare and facilities (e.g. Muslim workers given space and time to pray)
• training (e.g. halal awareness training; halal competency training; funds and facilities for training)
• Malaysian Halal Management System (MHMS); documentation and record; compliance with laws and regulations
• contract manufacturing and OEM

There is a separate list of specific conditions for all nine categories of business in the manual.

So for the "food premises” category, this includes:

• each food handler to have anti-typhoid vaccination, and food handling training
• certificate from a Health Ministry-recognised institution
• if you have a central kitchen, obtain halal certificate for it first
• restaurant chains to apply for halal certificate for each outlet; all applications handled centrally
• menu displayed must be the exact same menu you declared when applying for the halal certificate; otherwise, apply to add on the menu

Specifically, a restaurant, cafe, canteen, or bakery needs to:

• have at least one Malaysian Muslim full-time worker for each outlet to work throughout a shift
• appoint halal supervisor at food premises; implement an internal halal control system (IHCS)
• food and drinks must be prepared in a halal-certified kitchen

5. What is the process of getting a halal certificate like?

Start by applying online at the MyeHALAL system via Jakim’s Halal Malaysia Portal:

After submitting your application documents and once you receive the charge letter through the MyeHalal system, be sure to pay the application fees within 14 working days. (The fees paid are not refundable and cannot be transferred to other applications.)

If you are late in paying the application fees, your application will be rejected and you have to submit a new application.

The process also involves your food premises going through auditing or inspection, and taking corrective steps to comply with the requirements to be certified halal, before finally knowing if the application is approved or rejected.

If your application for a halal certificate is rejected, you can reapply.

6. How long does it take to get a halal certificate? (15, 23 or 30? Within 30, if all conditions met)

Previously, the process to approve and issue halal certificates reportedly took too long (between nine months and two years).

According to Jakim’s Halal Malaysia Portal website, its client charter includes its goal of issuing a halal certificate for a company within 30 days after payment is received and if all the required procedures and conditions have been fulfilled.

On September 6, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Mohd Na’im Mokhtar said Jakim has successfully reduced the period to get a halal certificate to 23 days from previously where it could take up to 90 days.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on September 12 said the entire process which was reduced to 23 working days has been further shortened to 15 working days.

On September 18, Zahid said Jakim had introduced the Malaysian Halal Certification Express Initiative (ISPHM) to speed up the handling of halal certification in Malaysia to 30 days, and that 96 per cent of applications from January to July this year were successfully dealt with within a 30-day period.

7. How long will your halal certificate last?

For the categories of food premises (which includes restaurants) and food and beverage products, the halal certificate will be valid for two years.

The halal certificate’s validity period is one year for abattoirs, and three years for all the other categories such as logistics, OEM, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products.

But Jakim can also offer a halal certificate validity period for five years, if you or your company fulfil certain conditions such as having been a halal certificate holder for at least five years and no non-compliance detected including in terms of hygiene. You can choose whether to accept or reject this offer of five years.