KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir today clarified that the delay in halal certification for the food service provider awarded the patient meal contract at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM) was due to technical issues in the application process, not non-compliance with halal standards.
He said the matter should not alarm the public, as it does not suggest the company involved is operating outside halal requirements.
“The issue is not that the company doesn’t practise halal procedures, but rather a technical delay in obtaining the certificate.
“The halal certification process in Malaysia applies not to the company as a whole, but to the specific premises,” he said during the debate on the Auditor-General’s Report in Parliament today.
Zambry explained that once a company is awarded a tender, it is typically given six months to apply for halal certification.
However, in this case, the process took more than a year due to administrative setbacks, including delays in appointing a Person in Charge (PIC), which is required for the certification process.
“The company was awarded the tender in 2024, but the PIC was only appointed on April 14, 2025. Without the PIC, the company could not even begin the application process.
“Only after the PIC is in place can the company begin uploading details into the halal system, undergo audits, and proceed with inspections,” he said.
This lengthy, sequential process, Zambry said, led to delays that exceeded the stipulated six-month period.
He also noted that while the specific premises used for HCTM had yet to be certified, other premises under the same company already held valid halal certification.
He added that all food suppliers working with the company were halal-certified.
“This shows that the company does observe halal standards. The issue lies with procedural inefficiencies that we need to correct moving forward,” he said.
On Monday, the Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) 2/2025 revealed that HCTM had awarded a three-year catering contract worth RM25.64 million to a company that did not yet possess halal certification from the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim).
According to the report, the company was granted the tender to supply patient meals at HCTM from February 2024 to February 2027.
The report also noted that the objective of the tender was to provide halal meals to patients, in line with the hospital’s Main Kitchen, which is certified halal by Jakim.
