INTERVIEW: New thinking needed for
Malaysia-Japan halal agreement to reach potential, Tokyo halal pioneer warns
Photo: Cahyani Ariya Wiji, a 21-year-old
Muslim foreign student from Indonesia, receives a bowl of halal Udon noodles,
from a staff at a dining hall in the Kanda University of International Studies
in Chiba, east of Tokyo May 13, 2014. Picture taken May 13, 2014. REUTERS/Yuya
Shino
A first-mover in Japan’s halal industry
believes Malaysia must change its approach to business there before it can
really benefit from the agreement signed in November aimed at boosting mutual
cooperation. At the same time, he says an uncoordinated certification system is
not allowing sufficient Japanese food companies and restaurants to display the
halal logo.
Shinya Yokoyama, who organised the
country’s first halal trade show in 2014 and advises Japanese government
departments on their approach to Islamic compliance, worries Malaysian
authorities are missing a trick by encouraging companies to market their food
there as halal.
“Halal is not so familiar to Japanese
consumers yet, but they are very familiar with Asian foods?your nasi goreng,
your nasi lemak, your mee goreng and so on,” Yokoyama told Salaam Gateway.
“That’s why I say, don’t sell ‘halal’, sell
‘Asian foods’ instead.”
Yokoyama believes it will be difficult for
Malaysian halal companies to build a market in Japan even with the support
offered them by government agencies like Malaysia External Trade Development
Corporation (MATRADE).
MATRADE has been encouraging exporters to
look east since the two countries signed their cooperation agreement November
28 in Tokyo to pave the way for more business opportunities in the halal
industry between them.
The deal includes the promotion of trade
and investment for halal products and services between the two countries, as
well as measures to boost the demand for Malaysian halal certification and
Muslim-friendly tourism to Japan.
The countries will also collaborate on the
development of Japan’s halal supply chain and ecosystem, and Malaysia will
offer its halal expertise to organisers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and
Paralympic games.
Yokoyama believes the tie-up between the
two countries has already been “quite successful”, citing the reported 135
million ringgit ($33 million) in sales made at the Japan-focused Malaysia Halal
Expo trade show in Kuala Lumpur in January?more than double the sales target of
its organiser, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development. Anecdotally, he has
also been seeing more Malaysian food brands on Japanese shelves.
But he questions whether it will be
possible to sustain this momentum if Japanese consumers fail to take to
products that are marketed based on their halal credentials.
MARKET ‘ASIAN’, NOT ‘HALAL’
“from a Malaysian perspective, exporters
want to promote their products as halal because they know that halal is still
new to Japanese consumers,” Yokoyama said.
“They want to demonstrate how clean halal
is, how healthy it is, how nice it is. But Japanese consumers, even when they
listen and learn about halal, many of them still feel that this food is only
for Muslims. So eventually and unfortunately, Malaysian SMEs will lose their
opportunity to sell their products.”
Yokoyama believes that if they are marketed
as Asian gohan, or cuisine, halal-certified products will become more palatable
and appealing to Japanese consumers.
“There are websites where Japanese women
talk about gohan, like nasi goreng that they always say comes from Indonesia or
Singapore?they don’t mention Malaysia at all. Malaysians are always
disappointed to hear this, but then they realise they have to promote halal
Malaysian cuisine as Asian gohan to Japanese consumers.”
Yokoyama said he has raised this point of
view with the chief executive of MATRADE, himself a Japanophile who had
previously lived in the country for seven years.
It is yet to be seen whether this
conversation will have an effect on MATRADE’s ongoing advice to businesses,
especially while exporters gear up for Japan’s 12 months under the sporting
spotlight.
NOT ENOUGH HALAL FOR BIG EVENTS
The most attention-grabbing aspect of last
year’s Malaysia-Japan halal agreement involves the related matter of the
Southeast Asian country’s offer to assist organisers with their provision of
food for inbound Muslim athletes and visitors in time for the Tokyo 2020
Olympics.
Trade policymakers believe the global
sporting event will provide an effective route for Malaysian companies to
showcase, promote and supply halal products and services to the Japanese
market, while also promoting them to Muslim sports fans visiting the country.
Tokyo 2020 also comes barely 12 months
after Japan hosts this year’s Rugby World Cup, which begins in
September?another top-tier sports event that is also expected to draw Muslim
visitors by the thousands.
Yokoyama believes Malaysian companies, and
especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are “very serious” about
shipping their products to Japan, especially with these sporting events in
sight. However, Japanese certification bodies are struggling to meet the demand
from food companies and foodservice outlets in time for the Games.
Accordingly, Yokoyama expects his country
will struggle to provide enough halal food to visitors outside the athletes’
village, where Malaysian halal wherewithal features strongly.
“I have spoken to some food providers, and
they have told me that they cannot supply enough halal-certified products in
time for the Olympic Games. I think there will not be enough,” he said.
Central to this issue of limited halal
facilities is a complex regulatory environment, whereby the Department of
Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM), the halal accreditation heavyweight,
recognises seven certification bodies in Japan. This is a lot for a country
with a minuscule number of Muslim residents?though no official figures exist,
most estimates point to a population of around 100,000.
Because of its constitution, which clearly
separates religion from the state, Japan’s government is not allowed to oversee
or manage these certifiers, as is the case in countries like Australia and New
Zealand.
Yokoyama claims the complexity of the halal
certification ecosystem has become worse than he anticipated when he began
advising the Japanese food ministry on halal issues five years ago, and it is
putting off food manufacturers and foodservice establishments seeking a halal
logo. Reports of businesses abusing their certification have not helped build
confidence in the system.
“The situation has been getting more
complicated in halal certification. I hope the certification issues will be
eased in the future but I don’t think they can be solved by themselves. I don’t
know what’s going on among halal certification bodies now,” he said.
ALTERNATIVES
There are alternatives for halal-seeking
visitors who can’t find halal-certified food in Japan.
Have Halal Will Travel provides a Tokyo
travel planner that includes a food option, and Halal Gourmet Japan, an app
developed by Yokoyama’s own company Food Diversity, categorises restaurants
ranging from fully halal-certified to those that just have halal storage
facilities or use halal meat.
“This is the alternative for Muslims who
travel to Japan. When restaurants can cater meals that are equal to halal, but
not certified, it should be no problem,” said Yokoyama.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s halal agency is
gearing up to promote its own version of food disclosure, as Yokoyama puts this
approach, ahead of the Olympics.
Recognising that visitors are likely to
swamp the miniscule number of certified-halal restaurants in Tokyo, JAKIM will
publicise “Muslim-friendly” restaurants that are supplied with halal food
packages by a Malaysia-led central kitchen during the Games. At the same time,
these establishments can go about their usual business catering for
non-Muslims, including serving alcohol.
Yokoyama is yet to be persuaded by this
approach, however, though he acknowledges initiatives like Muslim-friendly
restaurants and his own app are necessary at a time when not nearly enough
halal-certified businesses cater for growing numbers of Muslim visitors,
culminating with a vast shortage of facilities in time for Tokyo 2020.
“I don’t think it’s a perfect way to cater
for Muslims, but what is?” he asks.
“Muslims and Islam are still new to
Japanese catering establishments, which are only beginning to understand how
important halal foods are. Yet it’s still better than nothing.”
(Reporting by Richard Whitehead; Editing by
Emmy Abdul Alim emmy.alim@refinitiv.com)
Link->https://www.salaamgateway.com/en/story/interview_new_thinking_needed_for_malaysiajapan_halal_agreement_to_reach_potential_tokyo_halal_pioneer_warns-SALAAM12032019011925/
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