Halal logistics legal framework: Malaysia perspective

Abstract

Halal logistics is one of the profitable industries in Malaysia with demand from local and international clients. Though there are regulations and standards protecting this industry, the enforcement on these two demands attention and further study as there are still reports of abuse of the Halal logo due to failure to segregation of halal and non-halal products during the logistics chains. Currently, there are very limited literature review on enforcement of halal logistics. Hence, this research seeks to discover the critical factors for effective enforcement of halal logistics in Malaysia. Applying a qualitative method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders of the industry. Besides that, references were made to previous publication, case laws and legal documents. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded and reconciled. By using Nvivo software (12 Plus), the researcher coded the transcriptions and identify the themes and sub-themes. The findings discovered the following elements as critical within the industry: First the source of laws applicable in halal logistics, the duties and responsibilities of legal agencies and the due process (legal proceedings). This research will focus on the critical elements which are the sources of laws and the due process. The result shows that with regards to the sources of law, all participants agreed criminal laws are applicable in Halal logistics cases. However, only the academician and Halal logistics operator agreed civil laws should be included. Moreover, they also concurred that inclusive application of civils laws should also extend legal exposure to the halal logistics operators in order to manage the activities and avoid mistakes and cross-contamination.