Seminars Summary

Day 1

During the Halal Expo Europe 2016 there were a hand full of seminars given related to the subject of halal and market opportunities and implications. On day 1, Mariam Aaras, gave the first lecture in Dutch on health issues on the work floor. She gave us some tips for during the Ramadan and told her visitors that it’s good to take a break at work once a while and that it’s important to stock up your energy reserves for the next day.

The second seminar of the day was held by Azlan Oppier, a global halal consultant from HalalTalk. He told us the ins and outs of the production of nutrition on halal terms. He noted that it’s important that a company who wants to supply in Islamic countries or populations, has to have the correct halal certification given by the local Islamic authority in the area of supply. Besides, there are different halal-certification that can be received, one well-known, one trusted, etc. One of the last points he made, concerns the gap in the halal market that offers chances for entrepreneurs.

The following seminar was held by Aldin Dugonjic form Croatia. He started his talk with the question if we knew where Croatia is located. The country is sometimes mistaken for being under the sphere of Russia. Coming back at the main story, he told us about the challenges in the halal economy in Europe. There is a need for development in the halal-industry. Halal consumers are increasing and these creates chances for business. The challenges in Europe lay in the promotion of the terminology, the absence of Islamic Authorities and cross-country certification. It is wishful to develop one standard for Europe.

The last lecture of the day was given by Murk Muller, an attorney with knowledge of law that concerns (international) trade. He talked about the legal consequences in trade and searched for interaction with the public. The production of halal products can have consequences in law when it’s not clear which definition of halal is referred used. There can de differences between laws of nation-stat that have implications for business and productions chains. The challenge is to find which law can be implied. Hence, it’s important to clarify when the halal standard is not met in contract between companies and to have some insurance when things go wrong.