Halal Certification in the mass market – a briefing

Atheists and Christians alike across the Australia and New Zealand nations are willingly or unwittingly paying a religious tax to support the spread of Islam. Halal is the Islamic term for ‘lawful’, so ‘halal foodstuffs’ are those foods acceptable to Islam and permitted for the Muslims. The Halal Food Certification scheme means that Australian and NZ food producers pay Muslim businessmen a religious tax in exchange for a certificate of Islamic acceptability on their products. The Government and bureaucrats actively support this racket, but many people don’t.

In our secular state, the politicians support Islam’s halal religious tax and certification scheme which enriches Muslim businessmen at our expense. Previous New Zealand Parliamentary House Speaker Trevor Mallard, and the new President of the Australian Senate, Sue Lines, both avowed atheists, would ban prayer from the parliamentary sessions (despite the Christian origins of our civilization and the beliefs of our founding fathers and mothers), yet they happily pay the privately imposed halal tax, then swallow chicken, beef and other foodstuffs consecrated to the Islamic god Allah. Obviously, Islam and its halal tax project exposes a raw point of vulnerability and hypocrisy in our system of government.

Islamic imposition of halal tax on our foods exposes Australia’s and New Zealand’s atheist politicians as either ignorant, or hypocrites, and the Christian ones as spiritually illiterate. Can you imagine the uproar if suddenly the Catholics decided to implement a Gospel certification tax on fish, or the Anglicans put an Apostle tax on bread? The political atheists would rage in hate against the Christians and outlaw any such religious tax. But our lawmakers remain strangely silent on why our Departments responsible for Agriculture should support Islam’s halal food tax racket.

What’s going on here?

We need to understand the real meaning and implications of Islam’s ‘halal’, and recognize the Halal Certification schemes for what they are – a religious tax on our food – food in the mass market, not just for Muslims. Islam’s religious law, the Sharia, divides all things into what is lawful or permitted for Muslims and what is unlawful or forbidden to them. Lawful things are called ‘halal’ and unlawful ones are called ‘haram’. ‘Halal’ and ‘haram’ distinctions apply across the Muslim lifestyle, and control of food is but one aspect of their legal system.

The Islamic scripture gives Muslims explicit instructions on their food consumption and reveals that most things are acceptable:

• Koran 5:4 says “They ask you what is lawful for them. Say: ‘All wholesome things are lawful for you, as well as that which you have taught the birds and beasts of prey to catch, training them as God has taught you. Eat of what they catch for you, pronouncing upon it the name of God.…”

• Koran 5:5 further says “All wholesome things have this day been made lawful for you. The food of those to whom the Book was given [= the Jews, but not the Christians] is lawful for you, and yours for them.”

So what food is NOT halal for Muslims?

• Koran 5:3 “You are forbidden carrion, blood, and the flesh of swine; also any flesh dedicated to other than God [Allah].” You are forbidden the flesh of strangled animals and of those beaten or gored to death; of those killed by a fall or mangled by beasts of prey (unless you make it clean by giving the death-stroke yourselves); also of animals sacrificed to idols.”

Do Muslims really need Halal Certification for their food? According to the above scriptural instructions, Muslims can make any wholesome food halal simply by saying their Islamic grace. The Koran clarifies that every food is halal, except for the few things which are expressly forbidden such as pork and also alcohol:

• Koran 5:90: “Believers, wine and games of chance, idols and divining arrows are abominations devised by Satan. … Will you not abstain from them?”

Since Islam began 1,300 years ago, Muslims have happily eaten all kinds of food in accordance with the clear dietary rules of the Koran, without any need for a certifying authority or the imposition of a halal tax. Islam had no Halal Certification schemes until they were opportunistically invented by Muslim businessmen and started to proliferate in the West from the 1980s.

Originally Halal Certification was supposed to ensure that products consumed by Muslims were not ‘tainted’ by association with those things forbidden; for example, to guarantee there were no pig products in the ingredients. However the real purpose changed radically, as Muslims realized that certification in the mass market was a great way of making non-Muslims pay a tax to further the expansion of Islam.

The invasion of Halal Certification into our primary industries begins with Muslim businessmen in the Western nations demanding to have Muslim slaughtermen in the abattoir, to cut the throats of animals according to Muslim traditional methods. This requirement is not a matter of hygiene or quality. It is simply an imposition on us under the guise of religion. Always Islam demands special treatment and this slaughtering business is their perfect tactic to gain an advantage.

Australian and New Zealand food processing plant hygiene standards are among the best in the world. If you have visited Islamic countries you will understand that their standard of food hygiene and public health is much lower than ours. So in our countries there are no grounds for halal animal slaughter on the basis of hygiene or safety. A main consideration is that the animal must be bled out (Koran 5:3). Halal killing embodies no concern to prevent suffering (whereas Jewish Kosher killing does).

This relatively recent development of Halal Certification of food is a therefore a ploy. Islamic interests have found a way to impose compliance with Islamic Sharia Law on non-Muslims as well as Muslims. There is no scriptural or historical requirement for food for Muslims to pass through a Halal Certification scheme with the imposition of a charge or tax on the product to be paid for by consumers.

For example a Muslim slaughterman can kill animals and those can be separately marked with a food dye in the abattoir, to identify them for use in Muslim halal butcher shops or export markets. That method is called market segmentation and it eliminates the need for costly Halal Certification.

However the Halal Certification story now extends past guaranteeing food has not been exposed to Haram (unlawful) elements such as pork. The racket has expanded as Muslim businessmen exploit gullible non-Muslim food producers. To quote the World Halal Council:

“Halal Certification did not stop on the food products. It is also important in non-food products including personal care, utensils, fashion and clothing, shoes and the like and lately halal certification is now made mandatory to animal and poultry feeds, packaging materials such as tin cans, drums, plastic bottles and the like which are in contact with the halal quality products.”

The advance of Islam through the abattoirs may end up with a Muslim-only workforce there, as non-Muslims may be considered haram. We already have killing floors built to face Mecca and halal slaughtermen must be Muslim. So non-Muslim Aussies and Kiwis are locked out of those jobs because of religious discrimination. Aren’t politicians supposed to use the Law to prevent religious discrimination in the work-place?

By contrast with halal food, Jewish kosher food is produced in small amounts, clearly labelled, sold in separate areas of the supermarket or special shops and not forced onto others. Only the users pay for accessing Kosher food. So why can’t the same arrangements apply for Islam’s special requirements?

Halal Certification fees are passed on by the producers as a tax on the consumer. What sort of money are we paying in Australia and NZ to these opportunistic Halal Certifiers? Back in 2018, some abattoirs were paying up to $27,000 a month to be Halal Certified, or $324,000 a year. Chicken processors paid around $40,000 per year. Truckies who drive chicken supply vans from a chicken processor to the takeaway shops were being charged $500 each in Halal Certification fees. Whaaat??

Australia has twenty two Islamic groups approved by the federal government to issue halal certificates for export (Wikipedia). In NZ seventy seven secular companies such as Tegel Chicken and Silver Fern Farms, pay Muslim businessmen big money for a Halal Certification sticker on their product label.

Why do our secular businesses seek Halal Certification? The answer is found in the global nature of the halal racket, estimated in 2018 at 16 percent of the global food business. Overseas markets in Islamic countries e.g. Malaysia and Indonesia attract our food exporters. Collectively the NZ halal exports in 2017 amounted to some $1 billion; Australia’s figures were much higher.

The opportunity for certain Muslims to exploit gullible and greedy exporters by creaming a religious tax off this export bounty was too good to miss. To get the Ministry of Primary Industries involved in a pro-halal position was a brilliant coup for the certifiers. Allah must be laughing at our “dhimmified” politicians and bureaucrats (dhimmi means a non-Muslim who is subservient to the demands of Islam).

Preference for Muslim customers on the basis of their religion exposes a business decision based on greed of anticipated profits from the Muslim market and based on the fear of being left out of the money scramble. Businessmen suck up to Islam and halal certification because they want more money and they believe that to be able to sell into the Muslim market they need a halal label on their products. This then translates into all their production, not just that sold to Muslim customers. A common line run by abattoirs is that it is “uneconomic” to run two slaughter lines (one for halal, the other not), so they make all slaughter halal.

Muslim halal racketeers know the craven nature of greedy and fearful businessmen. They share the same emotions. To exploit their ‘religious’ advantage they easily convince overseas Islamic Governments and regulatory authorities to insist that food imports from Australia and NZ carry Halal Certification. The bureaucrats call that a ‘compulsory market access condition’. The Muslim customers in those countries also get to pay for the Halal Certification costs incurred by the non-Muslim exporters in NZ and Australia, as these are included in their local price structure.

Our exporters and trade negotiators are not sufficiently informed on Islam to know how to reject such blackmail techniques. Of course the overseas government officials get a pay-off from their Muslim brothers here. That’s how the halal racket works. It’s a win-win for Muslims and Islam. We lose because the Western companies involved now bow to the will of Islam and pass on the religious tax to their in-country consumers. Innocent Muslim customers also get to pay for the schemes’ costs.

The World Halal Forum estimated the global Halal Certification racket on food and beverages alone to be collecting USD 1.4 trillion in 2013. (Source: Farouk, M.M. (2013) Advances in the industrial production of halal and kosher red meat. Meat Science, 95, 805-820, quoted in http://www.sgs.com/en/our-company/news-and-media-center/news-and-press-releases/2014/10/the-growth-of-the-halal-market-and-the-role-of-halal-certification.aspx .) In 2014 that sum was close to Australia’s total GDP. Other published estimates provide figures that are much higher.

Fahad Al-Rabiah, Deputy Chairman of The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce, in 2014 estimated the trade volume of halal products worldwide to be worth about two trillion dollars, of which $700 billion dollars – just a third – was in the Islamic markets. (Source: http://www.arabnews.com/news/550666)

Since there is no religious grounds for a Halal Certification scheme, is there a world-wide standardised Halal Certificate?

NO. According to Dr. Evangelia Komitopoulou, Global Technical Manager for Food within SGS (Societe Generale de Surveillance, an international organization based in Switzerland), Halal certification is not yet globally standardised … ‘Authentic halal’ is a cause of controversy amongst certifying bodies and Muslim countries, as halal is widely defined by the choice and effectiveness of stunning methods used in animal slaughter. (Quoted in http://www.sgs.com/en/our-company/news-and-media-center/news-and-press-releases/2014/10/the-growth-of-the-halal-market-and-the-role-of-halal-certification.aspx)

This means each Halal Certification scheme promoted by different Muslim Councils and various businessmen is a made-up racket to exploit local opportunities. These people on their own authority win over non-Muslim politicians through manipulation of fear, Political Correctness, gullibility and greed.

Where do those Halal Certification dollars go?

The certifiers are completely secretive about what they do with the money. However it is obvious that the Halal Certification dollars fund:

• INDIVIDUAL CERTIFIERS who personally get rich for doing essentially nothing;
• ISLAMIC COUNCILS which use the money to fund more and more MOSQUES and Islamic schools. This advances the ISLAMIZATION OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND;
• ISLAMIC ZAKAT (“CHARITY”) – an obligation on all Muslims and their businesses – which according to Koran 9:60 must be disbursed to eight categories of recipients as follows:

Categories 1 to 6: For the poor, For the destitute, For those engaged in the management of alms, For those whose hearts are sympathetic to the faith, For the freeing of slaves, For the freeing of debtors

Category 7. For THOSE WHO FIGHT IN THE CAUSE OF ALLAH [JIHAD], and

Category 8: For the traveller in need.

You must be wondering about “those who fight for the cause of Allah”. The ‘Reliance of the Traveller’, the classic Sunni manual of Sharia Law, defines category 7 of Islamic charity in Law H8.17 as:

“those fighting for Allah, meaning people engaged in Islamic military operations … They are given enough to suffice them for the operation, even if affluent; of weapons, mounts, clothing, and expenses (for the duration of the journey, round trip, and the time they spend there, even if prolonged; [and also] in supporting such people’s families during this period).”

Now why would there be recriminations? – is it possible that “Syria” was code for the headquarters of ISIS in Raqqa? The WA Islamic Council is only one of many Islamic organizations across Australia, including mosques, that are funnelling money via this sham “charity” front, which could then have been supporting terrorist groups in Raqqa in Syria, and Mosul in Iraq. (Source: http://pickeringpost.com/story/shocking-evidence-shows-halal-fees-go-to-syria/4062)

Halal Certification schemes have nothing to do with Islamic religious observance and everything to do with Muslim opportunism. They function as a religious tax imposed on Aussies and Kiwis with the co-operation of our wrong-headed politicians and Politically Correct bureaucrats.

About 80% of the food in our supermarkets carries Halal Certification whether by visible mark or with the mark deliberately hidden or not shown. Gutless Australian and NZ companies have bowed to the pressure of Muslim con-men and their certification rackets. They pay this religious tax and pass it on to the consumer, i.e. you and me.

Our politicians, mostly secular, atheistic or religiously immature have through their hypocrisy allowed the Halal Certification racket to proliferate here. Some of the halal religious tax could well be sent to support Islamic terrorism overseas – Islamic Jihad. The rest of the scammed money enriches a few individual Muslim businessmen and Islamic Councils. They use the money ripped off from us to make donations to Islamic causes, to further the advance of Islam in our country, to buy favours from key politicians and personalities, and to elevate their status in the Muslim community.

A Government with guts could shut down open-slather Halal Certification today in the interests of protecting national security and saving citizens from paying a wrongful tax on top of the cost of feeding their families. The savings would remain with our families and allow for lower food prices.

Extortion by any name, Halal Certification or religious tax on the mass market must be rejected by our elected representatives. Only Dhimmis bow to Islamic extortion. Their behaviour discredits the reputation of sincere non-corrupt Muslims. Political Dhimmis degrade our quality of life and compromise our nation’s sovereignty to the foreign power of Islam. Submissive behaviour by Westerners (dhimmitude) demonstrates to Islamic leaders that their agenda to dominate the West is making substantial headway. Halal Certification is but one tactic in Islam’s ongoing campaign to dominate the non-Muslim world by any means possible.