Halal Congress Middle East declares Unified Halal Code

Karachi, December 26, 2012 (PPI-OT): Leading industry experts and scholars from all over the world have agreed to declare Unified Halal Code for Halal products at Halal Congress Middle East at Sharjah. The two-day event which concluded recently discussed and reviewed Halal practices and procedures as well as new opportunities that will arise with the growing global demand for Halal products. Delegates from 37 countries and 08 international institutions attended the congress.

The chief guest, UAE Minister of Education, H.E. Humaid Al Qutami, highlighted the importance of Halal certification and stressed the need to create awareness in this regard to promote Halal products. The guest of honour from Pakistan, the Federal Minister for Commerce, Amin Faheem, highlighted that strength of Pakistan being a Muslim country is 100% Halal production base with over 180 million consumers and a direct access to a market of 470 million Halal consumers in Afghanistan, Central Asia and Middle East.

Amin Faheem said that Pakistan has emerged as an important player of food suppliers to the UAE and the Gulf region particularly in rice, meat, poultry, sea food, fruits and vegetables, and spices. He said that all products in Pakistan are Halal and we are in a position to claim a huge chunk of the global Halal market with a little bit of effort which require certification as Halal and subsequent labelling and packaging.

The Commerce Minister pointed out that Pakistan’s exports of food products to the UAE have increased to over US$500 million and more than US$1 billion to the GCC region. However, he underlined a dire need of value addition which can only be achieved by establishing Brands in the region and spending on the marketing efforts.

Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, said that intra-OIC trade has increased progressively from 14 per cent in 2004 to 17.71 per cent in 2011 while in monetary terms it increased from $205 billion in 2004 to $687.74 billion in 2011. Asad Sajjad, CEO of Halal Development Council (HDC Pakistan) pointed out that the Halal trade is controlled by non-Muslim companies/countries, who are reaping the economic benefit by certifying their products as ‘Halal” and marketing it to the Muslim consumers with the ‘Halal Brand’.

The inaugural ceremony was also attended by Dr. Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the President of the Senate of Bosniak Academy of Science and Arts; Haji Abdul Malik Kassim, Minister for Penang State Government, Malaysia, and Chairman, Penang International Halal Hub, Malaysia; Dr El Hassane Hzaine, director-general ICDT (Islamic Centre for Development of Trade of OIC

For more information, contact:
Halal Development Council
1st Floor, Sunset Towers, 1-D,
Sunset Boulevard, D. H. A. Phase 2,
Karachi 75500, Pakistan
Telephone +92-21) 3531 0301- 04
Fax +92-21 3531 0300
Email: info@halalpakistan.com