KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 9,440 companies hold the Malaysian Halal Certification (SPHM) as of Oct 7.
In a written response during yesterday's parliamentary session, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), State Religious Councils (MAIN), and State Islamic Departments (JAIN) are currently processing 2,463 applications.
As of July 31, he noted that Jakim had managed 96 per cent, or 1,744 out of 1,812 SPHM applications within 30 days.
"The achievement rate for SPHM management in the states is 86 per cent as of June 30," he said to a question from Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (BN-Bera) regarding the government's current policy on the number of applications and the processing timeframe for halal certification.
The prime minister also stated that the Cabinet Meeting on Sept 18 agreed to maintain the existing policy that applications for SPHM carried out by Jakim, MAIN, and JAIN are voluntary.
"This policy is open to any industry willing to comply with all requirements, standards, and Malaysian halal certification regulations currently in force.
"Regarding the timeframe for processing halal certification applications, Jakim and MAIN/JAIN have set a decision that the certification will be issued within 30 days from the date the application documents are received.
"This calculation period only applies to the processes on the part of Jakim or MAIN/JAIN, and any period involving actions from the industry is not considered.
"This commitment has been fully implemented by Jakim since January, while MAIN/JAIN fully implemented it in July," he added.