Halal, kosher certification to be investigated by Australia

Halal and kosher certification will be investigated by an Australian parliamentary inquiry after lobbying from a right-wing senator who has described the process as a "racket".

Local media reported on Thursday the six-month inquiry will investigate all food certification schemes including kosher, halal, organic and genetically modified foods.

Cory Bernardi, a Liberal Party senator, said he wanted to " establish the facts" about all certification schemes.

"There seems to be a number of concerns about some certification schemes that are operating and in the interests of transparency and establishing the facts and being able to act in the national interest I think it's wise for the parliament to consider all certification schemes and how they operate," Bernardi said in parliament on Wednesday.

"I keep getting told any number of things about certification schemes and I don't know what's true and what's not true, so I want to establish the facts."

Bernardi's motion for the parliament inquiry was passed 34 votes to 30 with the support of the government and six crossbenchers.

Several companies have been targeted by anti-halal campaigns, including a South Australian yoghurt company that lost a contract worth 40,000 U.S. dollars after caving into social media pressure.

In March, Bernardi said there was a "lack of clarity" as to where fact stops and fiction begins in regards to halal certification.

"No one has been able to explain why water, milk and cat food need halal certification," Bernardi said in a statement on his website. "No one has been able to explain all the groups involved in the certification racket and where the money paid actually ends up."

Bernardi said halal was used overseas as a religious tariff and sometimes used to fund terrorism.

The Australian Crime Commission last year failed to find any links between the halal certification industry and the financing of terrorist groups. Endi