Halal are things or actions that are ‘permissible’ or ‘lawful’ under Shariah Law (Islamic Law). Segregation is first of all needed from the following non-Halal products/derivatives such as pig and dog (severe najis). Secondly, segregation is required from alcoholic drinks, carrion or Halal animals that are not slaughtered according to the Shariah law and blood (for non-medical purposes) (medium najis).
The logistics operations should be organised in such a way that the Halal Logistics Performance is maximised. This is only possible through the identification of so-called Halal Control Points and measuring these through performance indicators. The Halal Logistics Standard of IHI Alliance provides you with these Halal Control Points.
The concept of Halal Logistics is incomplete without coupling it with best practice logistics, that is: traceability is in place, ensures an unbroken (cold) chain, protection of shelf life by short supply chain lead times and high hygiene & sanitation standard.
Halal compliance within the supply chain has two components (Tieman, 2006). First of all the manufacturer should ensure that the supply chain is Halal compliant by design. By following the Global Halal Logistics standard these fundamentals can be embedded into the existing (logistics) business processes. As logistics is often outsourced by a manufacturer, he will need to put certain process requirements in place that the logistics service provider has to comply with and to be included in the service agreement with the logistics services provider (and measured). For the manufacturer it will be easier of course to deal with a Halal certified logistics service provider that already has these Halal Logistics processes in place. In any new rounds for quotations for logistics transportation & warehousing business, the manufacturer will therefore prefer to deal with a Halal certified logistics service provider.
The second component is that the manufacture should audit the supply chain from a Halal point of view. Like any audit, Halal logistics also requires an audit of the logistics operations. This is extremely important as the supply chain has too big impact on the Halal status and thus should be given similar attention by the manufacturer. Auditing can be undertaken by an internal Halal compliance officer or outsourced to a Halal auditing company. However, this Halal auditing company cannot be the same company as the Halal certification company.
Reference
Tieman, M (2006), From Halal to Haram, The Halal Journal, November – December 2006
© 2009 LBB International
