From Halal Pork Shop:
POWERFUL Muslim clerics in Jakarta are raising money for Islamic schools and mosques by forcing Australian businesses to pay an inflated religious levy on meat exports.
The Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI), the top Islamic body which orders Fatwa religious rulings, is dictating how much Australian companies must pay to have their food certified as Halal, or legal under Islamic law.
The MUI has expelled three Australian certifiers of Halal meat - even ordering one to stop doing business because it was charging less than its rivals. The scandal has triggered a boycott by some of Australia's leading meat processors, which are refusing to use more expensive certifiers endorsed by the MUI.
But abattoirs have been unable to export Halal meat to Indonesia as a result, risking a trade dispute with one of Australia's key export markets.
MUI chairman Amidhan Shaberah yesterday said that setting minimum fees for Halal was "just part of our control''.
"We have to standardise the charge to avoid any unfair competition between certifiers,'' he said during an interview in Jakarta.
"If we allow them to charge under the standard (price), other certifiers will (find it) hard to get clients.''
Dr Shaberah said Australian Halal certifiers should donate profits to Islamic mosques and schools.
"They should contribute for mosques, Islamic schools, the Islamic community and other social activities,'' he said.
The MUI has suspended Brisbane-based Australian Halal Food Services (AHFS) for engaging in "unfair competition'' that could "weaken (the) Halal certification movement".
"Descended rate of price and cost of certifying … by AHFS … is an unfair competition and weaken(s) Halal certification movement,'' its suspension letter stated.
One major Queensland meat processor, which did not want to be identified, claimed it had been quoted $27,000 a month in Halal certification fees through another MUI-endorsed certifier - four times more than AHFS had been charging.
ONE MORE REASON TO BOYCOTT ALL HALAL PRODUCTS.Why Non-Muslims Should Avoid Halal Food
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