Forget the past. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina is paving its way to become one of Europe’s biggest Halal food producers.

Sandwiched between Croatia and Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia) is a country on a crossroads. It is said to be the most easterly point of the west and the most westerly point of the east. The Middle Ages were an interesting and culturally prolific period in Bosnia. In the Illyrian-classical, pre-Slavic period, the cults of the East, Roman Pantheon and young Christianity met in a very creative way. The wealth of archeological remains, the shrine to the god of Mitras and basilicas are evidence of this.

A cultural cradle

Elements from the East and West mingled and intertwined. There was Catholicism and Orthodoxy versus the BosnianChurch; the Cyrillic, Latin and Glagolithic writing versus the Bosnian Cyrillic writing. One of the most predominant spiritual characteristics of that time was the BosnianChurch. The transition initiated by the Franciscan order starting in 1291 illustrates with what influence and strength the BosnianChurch had instilled Christian doctrines into medieval Bosnia. However, after the fall of the BosnianKingdom and its inclusion into the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, some far-reaching structural changes occurred. Followers of the BosnianChurch embraced Islam willingly and the spread of Islam made its strongest mark.

Bosnia was a melting pot even before the concept became a mot du jour. In a small territory and amongst a small number of inhabitants, all speaking the same language and all of similar Slavic origin, the three great Mediterranean civilizations met – Western Europe in the form of Catholicism, Byzantine in the form of Orthodoxy, and Islam in the form of the Ottoman State. For a while, its people seemed to enjoy their multi-cultural milieu.

Bosnia post-war: A decade later

However, to talk about Bosnia without mentioning its bloody 1992-1995 Serbian aggression would be a fallacy. About 250,000 souls were killed, most of them Bosnian Muslims, in their conflict with the Croats and Serbs – part of their break-up with Yugoslavia. The 1995 Dayton peace accord, which ended the Bosnian war, set up two separate entities – a Muslim/ Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Bosnian Serb Republic, Republika Srpska – each with its own president, government, parliament, military and police. Overarching these entities is a central Bosnian government and rotating presidency.

Bosnian Muslims make up a 48 per cent majority of Bosnia’s population. Together with Albania, it is the only European country where its Muslim population has a ruling power. “Bosnia [may] not [be] a Muslim country in many sense,” says its grand mufti and president of the Council of Ulama, Dr Mustafa Ceric, in an e-mail interview with the Halal Journal, “ but its advantage is the power of its Islamic tradition and the strength of its Islamic tradition and the strength of its Islamic community.” With several high Islamic schools an faculties, waqf (Islamic endowment) administration, as well as a thousand-over mosques and imams scattered in Bosnia, Ceric sees a huge potential for Bosnia to emerge as a torch-bearer of Islam in Europe. “[That makes us] different from the neighbouring countries,” he says.

During an interview with a London-based writer in 2004, Ceric was reported as saying that Bosnia falls under a Dar as-Sulh category, where the shariah cannot be implemented fully, but the government nonetheless should endeavour to put it into practice as much as possible. “It is unrealistic to expect [Bosnian] to implement shariah completely, that is what I want, of course, but it will not happen just like that,” he was quoted.

A bigger, second jihad

Ceric graduated from the Madrasah in Sarajevo and received a scholarship to Al-AzharUniversity in Cairo. In 1981, he accepted the position of imam at the Islamic Cultural Centre and earned a PhD at the University of Chicago in Islamic Theology and a BA in Arabic Literature. During the war with the Serbs and Croats, he represented the defiance, dignity and God-consciousness of a Bosnian alim (Muslim scholar), who lead their people in the face of international apathy and acquiescence.

Ceric’s face became synonymous with the Muslim’s struggle for freedom in Bosnia. A well-respected and eloquent man, he epitomises what he himself termed as “a bigger”, second jihad” – an intellectual and educational one –where the utmost task would be “to educate our children and help them gain knowledge about Islam.”

Halal goldmine

Education starts at home. Blessed with natural resources and vast pasturelands, do Bosnian Muslims even realise that the very place they call home would be a Halal goldmine waiting to be exploited? “Unfortunately not,” says Mustafa Mujezinovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ambassador to Malaysia,” except for the [grand] mufti [Ceric].” He attributes this ignorance to Bosnia’s so-called “communist heritage.”

Ceric’s views and thoughts, however, transcend any ideologies. Refusing to lament perennially on the calamity that struck his country, he is confident that like a phoenix from the ashes, Bosnia will rise again. “If there is a good place for producing organic food, then it is Bosnia,” he says. If one understands the notion of Halal in its pure intrinsic and holistic term, proper slaughtering according to shariah law is not sufficient to guarantee its Halalness. What could be the ne plus ultra? “I would like Halal food to be associated not only with what is permissible by Islamic law, and therefore good for our spirit; but with what is healthy and therefore good for our body as well,” says Ceric.

Mujezinovic shares the same view. “It is very easy for [Bosnia] to produce high quality and healthy food as we have unpolluted areas all over the country.” He mentions Bosnian lamb, lauded as the best in the world, due to the sheep’s special diet consisting of medicinal herbs from the mountains. And lamb, is just the trip of the icerberg.

“Water is our second big opportunity,” says Ceric. According to him, there are very few cities in Europe, where public water supply system is directly potable – and Sarajevo is one of them, “We also have a number of healthy mineral waters, which could be bottled and marketed.”

Recommencing the business

So where does Bosnia restart? Mother Nature seems to have blessed the country with an abundance of natural resources. Some success stories include pre-war and post-war accomplishments. “Before the war, we produced a wide range of goods,” says Mujezinovic. UPI, for instance, was a huge food corporation, but had to halt its operation due to lack of funds. Agrokomerc was known as the largest chicken producer in former Yugoslavia. Current flourishing food companies like Akova Group – openly publicising their products as Halal – a daily manufacturer of 40 tons of finished products; and Vispak, a renowned producer of coffee, jams and chocolate goods are set to place Bosnia once again on a European map of food producers, together with other big players.

“Some of our producers are already capable of manufacturing goods under a Halal standard,” says Mujezinovic. He adds that there are currently more than 100 big food producers in Bosnia.

Tapping a niche market – is verbal Halal enough?

A pertinent question remains: is claiming a product Halal enough to convince potential buyers? In a country, where there is no trusted body regulating its Halal certification, some food items carry Halal entrustments from producers. To add credibility to their words, the grand mufti will be invited to witness the production of Halal goods. That may work perfectly well in Bosnia and other neighbouring countries – but the idea will be scoffed upon in other parts of Europe, where Halal represents a serious and lucrative market worth 15 billion euros.

“Nobody will ask you for a Halal logo in Bosnia,” admits Mujezinovic. According to him, self-verification is de rigueur, and even then, he claims that Muslims have been “gambling” with their food for the past 50 years under communism. “We take care of what we eat here.” The only “official” Halal meat shops in Bosnia are those run by ex-mujahedeens.

He points out that if Bosnia want to establish a Halal industry, it has to be done under the auspice of the grand mufti. “And that means, we have to establish an institution like [Malaysia’s Department of Islamic Development or] JAKIM.” He is confident that it could be turned to a money-making institution, should Bosnia realise the potential of Halal certification for its products. “The grand mufti’s task will be to convince Muslims in Bosnia that it is very important for them to use products, which carry a Halal logo.”

“Awareness can be easily created and increased when you have alternative products, whose Halal and healthy nature is ensured by a trusted body. Many Muslims are tired of checking each item in the stores for non-Halal components,” says Ceric.

Penetrating a bigger market – the EU

Whilst a lot of issues still need to be clarified and tackled tactfully, Ceric thinks that Bosnia will be ready to join the EU in “a few years”. “That is what we are aiming at,” he says. “[Becoming a member of the EU] will significantly alter the position of Bosnia in the European market, but even at this point, progress could and should made,” he affirms.

Bosnia is currently reforming its veterinary inspection system to make it compatible with EU standard. Ceric inform that even though there will be no financial and political support from the government to catapult Bosnia as a European Halal hub, it “will not object or put obstacles” in front of its Halal development. “It should not take us a long time [to become a Halal hub],” says Mujezinovic.

“At this moment, [Bosnia] does not have a quota – and we can export as much as we can,” he says, naming Germany as a potential country to expand its Halal products. There are currently 200,000 Bosnian Muslims and at least 4 to 5 million other Muslims, especially Turkish, in Germany.

Next step – Investments

Brilliant ideas and self-determination mean nothing without the much neede capital, say some industry players in Bosnia. With big companies such as Kuwait Investment Authority, Islamic Development Bank, Volkswagen and Mittal Steel investing in heavy industries, the food industry is also looking for foreign investment. “We would prefer to have investors in Halal food production,” says Ismet Kumalic, Unsko-Sanski Canton’s chief minister. According to Mujezinovic, some of the biggest neighbouring investors in the country come from Croatia, Slovenia and Austria.

With a stable currency pegged to euro, the absence of inflation for nearly a decade, and a possibility to join the league of other EU countries in the near future, Bosnia’s way to become a mercantile crossroads – like it used to be long before Halal was a buzzword – is steadily paved.

**This article was first published in The Halal Journal May/Jun 2005 edition, and was written by Remi Yahya-Ishmael.