24 June 2015, on behalf of Richard Sibthorpe, submission to the Senate Economics References Committee for THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATION OF FOOD CONTENTS 1 Introduction p1 2 Item a. submission p2 3 Item b. submission P3 4 Item c. submission P4 5 Item d. submission P4 6 Item e. Submission P5 7 Item f. Submission p6 8 Item g. Submission p7 9 Islam’s Jizya p8 10 My Recommendation p10 11 Conclusion p11 12 Footnotes p12 1 Introduction While this submission is formulated in accordance with the seven line items of enquiry a. to g. which is laid out by the Senate Committee, it specifically relates to the HALAL component referred to in item a. as it is associated with the Islamic religion. In Islam, halal means permitted, licit. My area of major concern is that while this halal matter is an Islamic religious and Sharia Law parameter, nevertheless it has drawn in and thereby directly effects the wider non Islamic community about Australia – yet this vast majority of Australian citizens have not been asked to participate in this Islamic religious exercise, nor do they have any say in this. In its enquiry into this subject area, it is essential that the Senate Committee does recognise and understand the direct connection between the Islamic religion with its divinely specified halal food requirement, and how this requirement directly feeds through to increased food prices for each and every non Muslim citizen in modern Australia. This is the case even though this latter majority has, as I believe, no desirability to understand or adhere to these particular requirements of the Islamic religion. To assist the Committee in this area, in this submission I will present some relevant information concerning the nature of this halal requirement within Islam itself. My submission will also refer to some areas where these halal requirements of the Islamic religion, as they are manipulated and implemented by some, would be clearly objectionable to otherwise genuine Australians if they were aware that this is happening. I put the case that, to the extent that Islamic halal certification is a religious based food requirement for certain Australian citizens, the non Muslim component of that citizenry should not have to contribute even one cent of any associated costs. In the cause of freedom of religious association, these costs should be 100% met by those who require (and even demand) this divinely prescribed food processing setup with its certification overhead. But as I write, this is not the case and to the extent that this is not the case, non-Muslim Australians are effectively being subjected to an element of Sharia Law, a subjection I shall demonstrate in this submission. This is an abhorrent situation being forced upon me and my fellow citizens by Islam and certain food suppliers and in its meek acceptance of Islamic sovereignty in this area, possibly even by the government of Australia. My submission follows. 1 2 Item a. the extent of food certification schemes and certifiers in Australia including, but not limited to, schemes related to organic, kosher, halal and genetically-modified food and general food safety certification schemes Submission for Item a. As advised in the Introduction above, this submission specifically addresses the halal food requirement of the Islamic religion and how this impacts on the broader Australian community. On behalf of that broader community, as this submission will canvass, I have very particular concerns regarding this subject area. I am comfortable that any food certification requirements that may be associated with other non government non-Muslim elements in Australia, if they exist, do not impose a direct cost overhead to the supplier, and thereby filtering through to the shelf price, as halal certification does. However if I am mistaken here then I accept that, as for halal certification, circumstances should change so that those community elements which require any such certification overheads meet the full associated costs themselves. The Committee cannot genuinely weigh up the pros and cons of this subject area without being at least generally aware of the religious nature of this halal food requirement with respect to Islam. This is not to presume that I or any Committee member should think they might come to know as much in this area as trained Islamic clergy. Yet for the most part this same Islamic clergy simply interpret the very verses and clauses within the Islamic texts which I and other non Muslims have also referred to. That I and these other non Muslims have made the effort to access and study these Islamic texts has created a serious problem for modern day halal certification agencies which make huge profits in this area. This is because these agencies and representatives rely on non Muslim Australians being entirely ignorant of these texts. To this end, I will use this Item a. submission to provide a minimum amount of detail in this theatre. As I do this, the Senate Committee may be assured that I make no running commentary about these Islamic texts. I just quote them and where it is relevant, in plain English, I interpret them. A prerequisite is that it is essential for the Committee to understand that in its totality, the Islamic civilisation is in fact a theocracy where there is little to no separation between its divine (i.e. religious) nature and its wider community governance of the daily life of every practising Muslim, every aspect of which is regulated by Sharia Law. In Islam there is no separation between these elements as is the case within a Western Democracy. Islamic Sharia Law emanates directly from its religious texts being the Koran and Hadith. Sharia Law is simply the manmade codified law book of God’s will for humankind as was delivered via His messenger Muhammad in the 7th century. The early verses of the Koran’s Sura 5 hold God’s instructions regarding suitable food for the Muslim. [FN1] These are reasonably wide-ranging and apart from livestock meat, with respect to fees being paid, in themself put the lie to just about all halal food certification schemes currently in operation for non meat food products. There is no Koranic verse, advice or even inference that justifies Australian food producers handing over large amounts of money to Islamic representatives for the purpose of attaching a simple logo to their packaging. This the Koranic fact. This is what God informs His believers about food in His Koran “All wholesome things have this day been made lawful to you.” (God, Koran 5:5) Sharia Law is slightly more prescriptive in this area. [FN2] Of the 600 pages of the English translation of Sharia Law regulation, just seven pages of this are dedicated to Food under the following clause headings: Avoiding Doubtful Foods, Animals Lawful and Unlawful To Eat, Other Substances Unlawful To Eat, Hunting and Slaughtering [FN3]. This legal document divides food into three different categories (a) Halal - permitted foods (b) Makruh - foods that may be eaten but which Muslims are not encouraged to eat, and (c) Haram - forbidden foods. More specifically, Sharia Law instructs that Muslims must make 2 sure not to eat the following: pig meat, the meat of carnivorous animals, any form of blood, animals strangled to death and animals not killed for food in the correct way which is called Dhabihah. Dhabihah requires that the slaughterer must be a sane Muslim, Jew or Christian who in the act of slaughtering with a sharp knife so that the blood flows freely, must ensure that the animal is facing Mecca whilst proclaiming that they are killing it in the name of God. God instructs His believers about this in His Koran. [FN4] Game hunted or fished by oneself is ok to eat. Other prohibited food products are jelly that contains gelatine because this is made from the horns and hooves of animals which may be haram (unlawful, forbidden), and certain sorts of cheese because animal products are used in making them. Anything which causes addiction is also forbidden to ingest which includes drugs and alcohol. But more particularly, this law book includes this ‘plain English’ advice about food “This section is an explanation of what is lawful (halal) and unlawful (haram), the knowledge of which is among the most important concerns of the religion, since knowing it is personally obligatory for every Muslim ...... The case of meats is exceptional in this, since most other foods are initially permissible, and one assumes they remain so unless one is certain something has occurred which has made them unlawful” [FN5]. As for my earlier comment about the Koran, meat and gelatine based products and some cheeses aside, within these seven pages there is no Sharia Law regulation, advice or inference that justifies Australian food producers handing over large amounts of money to Islamic representatives for the purpose of attaching a simple logo to their packaging. Sharia Law does not prescribe this transfer of money nor does it authorise this nor does it deem it in any way necessary. This is the Sharia Law fact. So the justification for annual ongoing halal certification fees has to be found elsewhere outside any Islamic religious or legal association. It is my view that the multitude of agencies which demand these halal certification fees are essentially fraudulent. Meat, cheese and gelatine based products aside, formal certification is hardly necessary and given some certified products do not actually carry the logo, neither is the caper orientated towards the practising Muslim. Rather it is orientated towards the financial welfare of the certifier (see section 9, Jizya Tax commentary to follow).