Battambang Rice Gets Halal Certified

KHMER TIMES
SUM MANET

Battambang Rice Investment Company (BRICO) has been certified as producing halal rice, after a Vietnamese Muslim association inspected the company’s facility and found that it met the strict standards required for food prepared for Muslims, opening doors for exports to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Middle East.

Khan Kunthy, general manager at BRICO said that his was now the second company to receive such certification, which had to be done by the Vietnamese association as there were no internationally recognized groups domestically.   

“What I know is that in the rice sector there are now two companies getting the halal certificate – first was SED Rice Company, which is located in Battambang as well,” Mr. Kunthy said.

“The reason why I wanted to get the halal certificate is because we sell to the EU and other markets and they frequently ask us if we have a halal certificate or not. So the Muslim customers [clearly] want that,” he said.  

He explained that in order to meet the requirements, there could be no pigs or dogs anywhere near the milling process, and no animals could be present within the compound.

“Getting the halal certificate will help boost exports...to neighboring Muslim countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. Europe, too, requires halal products,” he said.

This year, the government has been working to finalize a draft sub-decree on issuing halal food certification, as a way of boosting tourism and investment from Islamic countries.

Sos Mou Sine, vice president of the Cambodia Muslim Development Foundation, recently stated that the draft was taking time to produce as it was a complex issue.

“Producing halal food in the country not only benefits the local Muslim community and Muslim tourists, but also creates [export] markets for the food products.”