Lack of credentials holding back industry

Lack of halal certification in the country is hurting exporters’ ability to take advantage of the country’s established food quality, says an analyst.

“Thailand exports only 100 billion baht in halal-certified food annually out of a total of 8 trillion baht globally,” said Roongroj Benjamasutin, project director at the Asean Business and Economic project of University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC).

Despite the widely accepted quality of Thai-produced food, the country’s exports represent only 1% of the value of halal food globally, with the biggest exporters Australia and Brazil.

Thai food exporters are interested in shipping goods to Islamic countries, but have not paid enough attention to attaining halal certification. Moreover, Thai halal certification is not accepted by several Islamic countries including Indonesia.

FOR FULL STORY GO TO: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/386393/exporters-keen-on-halal-certification.