SHAFAQNA – In a bid to boost its halal meat exports, Denmark aims to develop common industry standards through collaboration between producers, brokers and marketers of the meat in the Nordic country.
“There is a shift towards more stringent halal rules in a number of countries,” Stig Munch Larsen, a senior consultant to Danish Agriculture & Food Council trade and market department, told Global Meat News on Friday, May 29.
“Malaysia is the country with the strictest rules, but also countries such as Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Singapore have strict requirements, while African countries can also have stringent regulations.”
Larsen was speaking about the two-day seminar that will tackle the aspects of halal meat industry in the European country including, slaughtering, production, and export.
Scheduled on 34 June in Copenhagen, the seminar will highlight halal rules in Malaysia, as a part of the country’s efforts to accelerate the standardization of halal rules.
The seminar was announced during a meeting between the Danish Agriculture & Food Council (DAFC/Landbrug & Fødevarer) and producers, brokers and marketers of halal meat.
The meeting aimed to discuss developing halal standards that consider the differences of halal slaughtering conventions between countries.
Networking
Seeking a common ground, the DAFC council urged a large-scale networking between “Danish meat companies engaged in producing and exporting halal meat.”
If agreed, the common halal standards will be applied on poultry, beef, and ingredients.
The common standards will also include the entire value chain “from primary production to slaughter, transportation, storage and export management,” according to the government backed DAFC.
In February 2014, Agriculture and Food Minister Dan Jørgensen has sparked a controversy after announcing that Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter will be illegal in Denmark.
Facing growing calls for boycott over its ban on halal slaughter, Denmark has attempted to play down growing criticism by Muslims around the world, confirming that the Islamic slaughter is still legal in the north Nordic European country.
The concept of halal, — meaning permissible in Arabic — has traditionally been applied to food.
Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.
Muslim scholars agree that Shari`ah provides a divine law of mercy that should be applied on all Allah’s creations, including animals.
Islam also provides details about avoiding any unnecessary pain.
Denmark is home to a Muslim minority of 200,000, making three percent of the country’s 5.4 million population.