Halal living and the search for halal products are sweeping the world. Japan also wants to be closely involved with Halal.
Japan aims to increase its market share in Türkiye as it is a country with a developed industry and economy. The first delegation from Japan visited GIMDES on 31.10.2009 regarding Halal certification. Later, in March 2015, the manager of a consulting firm operating in providing training on the Halal certification system to Japanese companies visited GIMDES and held meetings for a training program in Japan or Türkiye for companies wishing to obtain Halal Certificates. In October 2015, the general manager of the unit established by Japan’s state foreign trade organization in Istanbul, Türkiye, visited GIMDES.
In their 4th visit to strengthen ties between Japan and Türkiye, Business Development Director Ryoko Tomoda and Business Development Coordinator Nesrin İşcan Arslan from the Japan Foreign Trade Organization visited Aya Kambe, Team Leader from the Halal Promotion Office of the Yano Research Institute Ltd., GIMDES.
The meeting began with our President Dr. Hüseyin Kami Büyüközer asking what the reasons for not taking important trade steps could be despite our ongoing connection with Japan since 2009.
Team Leader Aya Kambe from the Halal Promotion Office stated that the main reason for this situation was that Japanese companies did not know how to proceed regarding Islam and Halal production and that she wanted to raise awareness of manufacturers on this issue with the valuable guidance she would receive from our President.
Dr. Büyüközer stated that “Japan is a country that Türkiye wants to establish closer relations with against Europe, which advances with colonialism in every country it enters, and that they have preferred Japan instead of importing products from Europe since the time he was an undersecretary at the Ministry of Industry.” He explained that many products produced in Türkiye are suitable for the consumption habits of the people in Japan, but Japan imports these products from European countries such as France at much higher prices. He emphasized the importance of concrete steps to thoroughly identify and eliminate the issues that prevent the progress of this trade. He said that Türkiye is in one of the most favorable periods to increase its trade with Japan.
Ms. Aya Kambe asked whether there are many Halal certification institutions and whether their standards are common with GIMDES.
Our President explained that since the Halal certification institution is related to the religion of Islam, the certification institution should be single and the companies they certify should be many, but there are many certification institutions and they proceed through two channels. He said that on one channel, there are institutions that issue fake certificates without sufficiently inspecting the companies and without paying attention to the commands of the Quran, the book of Islam, and on the other channel, there are institutions that provide real Halal and Tayyib certification by determining the commands of the Quran as their standards. He explained that GIMDES does not apply different standards, only Allah’s commands and does not respect standards that compromise on these. It was announced that if products that do not comply with Islam are offered for sale in Türkiye, we announce this on our websites and that the Muslim people immediately stay away from these products.
Our President said that everyone, Muslim or not, should read the 168th verse of the Surah Al-Baqarah in the Quran, and that in this verse, Allah Almighty addresses not only Muslims but all people and says, “O people, eat of the lawful and pure things We have provided for you. Do not follow the footsteps of Satan, for he is your clear enemy.” He said, “Surely all people would not be pleased with Satan, would they? We need to think together on this point.”
Our guests thanked our President for the valuable information and expressed that they wanted to continue communication and take concrete steps. After exchanging our contact information, gifts were presented to our guests and the meeting was concluded.
