The food industry has welcomed a Senate inquiry into food certification schemes, saying it is a chance to address "misinformation" about halal certification in particular.
The Australian Food and Grocery Council chief executive Gary Dawson said halal certification was worth billions of dollars for Australian exporters, who would lose access to some of their most important markets without it.
"If this inquiry can put to bed some of the more outrageous claims, can put to bed some of that misinformation, and really establish the facts around halal certification, we think that's a good thing and we'll certainly be contributing to that," he said.
The council said anti-halal campaigners had used "some pretty ugly tactics" to target food companies who sought the certification.
"[They've been] the recipients of abusive phone calls, social media campaigns and so on, when, at a practical level, halal certification for many food companies is simply a requirement for them to export into countries like Indonesia or Malaysia, or to market their products to people of the Muslim faith here in Australia," Mr Dawson said.
South Australian Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi proposed the Senate inquiry, which was supported by government members in the upper house, as well as crossbenchers Jacqui Lambie, Ricky Muir, Glenn Lazarus, John Madigan and David Leyonhjelm.
It will look at the costs to producers and consumers of halal, as well as other certification schemes including kosher, organic and GM.
The inquiry will also investigate whether current schemes "provide enough information for Australian consumers to make informed purchasing decisions", the "importance of food certification schemes in relation to export market access", and the "extent and adequacy of information available to the public about certifiers including certification processes, fees and financial records".
The Australian Food and Grocery Council has welcomed the broad scope of the inquiry beyond merely halal certification, particularly the focus on the cost to manufacturers and consumers.
But it is the focus on halal certification that has become contentious in recent years.
Senator Bernardi has described halal certification as a "racket", and raised concerns about "a lack of clarity about where the facts end and the fiction begins in relation to halal certification".
"I haven't been able to ascertain what the cost of this religious tax is to individual companies or the overall cost to the Australian consumer," Senator Bernardi said in March.
"No one has been able to explain why water, milk and cat food need halal certification. No one has been able to explain all the groups involved in the certification racket and where the money paid actually ends up."
Online, it is common for anti-halal forums to claim that the proceeds of halal certification schemes are used to fund terrorism.
In November last year, the Australian Crime Commission said it was "not aware of any direct links between the legitimate halal certification industry and money laundering or the financing of terrorist groups".
"We've certainly seen no evidence to back that claim [of a link between halal certification and terrorism]," Mr Dawson said.
"There are agencies in Australia - the Federal Police, the security agencies - that are involved with investigating any of those claims, and as far as I'm aware none of those claims with respect to halal certification have had any basis."
Inquiry could offend important trading partners: halal certification auditor
Halal certification is particularly relevant for Australian meat exporters, with key markets like Indonesia and Malaysia requiring halal certification on all imported product.
Halal slaughter requires the act to be carried out by a Muslim, in accordance with Islamic law. The animal is first stunned, and then killed instantly by having its throat cut. It is common practice in many Australian abattoirs.
Gaafar Muhammad is the senior abattoir auditor at one of Australia's largest halal certification organisations, the Islamic Coordinating Council in Victoria.
He said he was concerned the Senate inquiry could hurt Australia's reputation with its trading partners, and offend importers of Australian meat.
"It's not a good idea at all, because there's no reason to link terrorism with the export of Australian meat industry [and the inquiry] will affect the industry," he said.
"If you link halal with terrorism, [the perception in export markets will be] that means that anybody who is buying or dealing in this matter will be a terrorist."
Mr Muhammad said that if the government wanted to know what happened to the fees collected by the coordinating council for certification activities, it only had to ask.
"The Islamic Coordinating Council is a company composed of 11 mosques, Muslim societies, which all live in Victoria, all in Australia," he said.
"This money is only spent on the schools, the mosques, the youth programs and other activities which benefit the community, so there is no money going out of Australia.
"Not only that, but it's not much money that people should be concerned.
"We don't have that much money to give to anybody and all the money generated is spent here on Australian people, on the Australian Muslim community, to aid the government and to aid the other authorities to maintain youths, to educate small kids, to look after our centres and that's all.
"If the government want to ask us, and want answers for that [where the money goes], why not? We're not hiding anything.
"But as I said, it might be of concern to importing countries."
Peak bodies helping food companies on dealing with social media backlash
In Senator Bernardi's home state, peak food industry group Food South Australia also welcomed the inquiry, particularly the focus on the broad variety of certification schemes.
Chief executive Catherine Barnett said halal certification had emerged as a extremely sensitive topic for her members in recent years.
Her organisation had tried to help its members navigate that on social media.
"Really it's about understanding what your key messages are, having some community guidelines on Facebook pages and social media, looking at Facebook moderation settings," Ms Barnett said.
"It's also thinking about your media strategy: whether you actually want to actively go into the media to have a position, or you've decided that you just want to interact with your customers and not raise the profile.
"It's a very, very emotive issue and very sensitive.
"Everyone is absolutely entitled to their opinion, and respectful discussion of that is really the ideal scenario."
