Five companies have received halal certification from the Kaohsiung Marine Bureau, allowing them to serve the halal market in Taiwan and opening a door to Muslim markets in Southeast Asia.
The companies — Tain Shi Fu Co, Fortune Life Enterprise Co, Chien Jung Frozen Food Co, Anyong Biotechnology and Fish Chairman Co — on Wednesday said that they were confident they could satisfy local needs and break into Southeast Asian markets.
There is great potential in the halal food market, Bureau Director Lin Ying-pin (林英斌) said, adding that there are more than 1.6 billion Muslims in the world.
Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei Times
Lin said the bureau estimated that one-third of the world’s population would be adhering to Islamic practices by 2050, so the halal market has great potential.
The bureau is getting a head start by introducing Kaohsiung’s excellent seafood and aquaculture into the Muslim diet, Lin said.
Of the five companies, Fish Chairman was the first to obtain the certification, company manager Su Te-wei (蘇德威) said.
Fish Chairman has begun raising aquaculture products in enclosed spaces, Su said, adding that even then, it was difficult to obtain the certification, he said.
Halal fish products across the five companies include whole fish — giant grouper, hybrid groupers, striped bass and milkfish — slices of fish meat, processed fish meatballs and other snacks, the bureau said.
International Muslim Tourism Industry Development Association chairman Ma Hsiao-chi (馬孝棋) said the companies were granted the certification after they attended a series of courses.
They also had to pass three on-site inspections, with people from the International Islamic University in Malaysia examining the facilities.
The certifications were awarded early this month, Ma said.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
A magnitude 6 earthquake last night at 9:11pm struck off northeastern Yilan County, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The earthquake’s epicenter was located in waters between Toucheng Township (頭城) and Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島), about 22.1km northeast of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 112km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Yilan’s Dongshan (冬山) and Nanao (南澳) townships and Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), where it measured 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. It measured 3 in other areas of Yilan and Taipei, as
RSS