THE Halal Verification Laboratory is scheduled to be launched on November 17 and is targeted to be operational before the year ends.

In an interview with Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Davao Regional Director Anthony Sales, he said the equipment procurement are on its final stages and a lot have already arrived including the major equipment which are the gas chromatography and liquid chromatography which are both used for analysis and detection of a product to see whether or not it has pork, pork derivatives, or alcohol, which are all considered haram.

Four chemists, two of which are Muslim and are graduates of the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, will be sent to Dubai on November 20 to 23, 2017 for the training they would need in connection to the operations in the lab.

Earlier, it was reported that the project was funded by the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the DOST which costs around P50 million. It will be located in the premises of DOST-Davao Region, Dumanlas Road, Bajada.

"DOST is a member of the Halal board that will accredit all certifying bodies as stipulated in the Halal Export Industry Development Promotion program. DOST will provide the testing. The testing is for the purpose of checking whether products contain pork or pork derivatives. It can be used for Halal certification of products," said Sales.

He added that Halal certification can also help with the settling of disputes as there might be instances of consumers complaining to have bought items which have pork components. In order to prove it, they can come to DOST and have the item checked and tested.