Pakistan Halal Authority to start functioning within two months: Federal Minister said

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(Lahore-NewsHalal, Jumada al-ula 14, 1437, February 23, 2016) Pakistan Federal Minister for Science and Technology Rana Tanveer Hussain has announced that the National Assembly has passed a bill to establish Pakistan Halal Authority that will start functioning within the next two months.

Speaking at the inaugural session of International Conference on Halal Foods, Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics, jointly organized by Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (PCSIR) in collaboration with Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA), at PCSIR Complex , the Minister said Halal Food processing in the country will help earn precious foreign exchange to strengthen national economy.

“Authority would ensure supply of halal food to the market, and keep an eye on imported food items, as a number of imported packed food items being sold in the markets contained ‘haram’ ingredients”. He added.

The minister said that as per Trade Policy 2012-15, the import of all edible products shall be subject to the condition that they shall be free of any “haram” element or ingredient.

He hoped that halal food processing in the country would help earn precious foreign exchange that would strengthen the national economy.
“Besides halal food, the government would also ensure halal cosmetics in the country,” Tanvir said.

Consumers and producers in Pakistan were demanding a Halal control body in the country for years as imported foods products in the local market were discovered with not Halal ingredients on several occasion.

During the conference in Lahore, market players as well as international experts highlighted the need for the halal meat. They also spoke about fundamentals of halal certification, animal welfare, impact of the halal slaughter on meat’s quality, pre and post-slaughtering procedures, global market and demand for the halal meat, strategies to increase the share of halal meat in the global meat market, livestock management, slaughter house automation-machinery, and utilization of halal meat in the preparation of processed and semi-processed food items.

The key speakers included PCSIR Chairman Dr Shahzad Alam, PCSIR DG Dr Sakhawat Ali, GC University Faisalabad Director Dr Faqir Anjum, Dr Nadeem Riaz and Justice (r) Khalilur Rahman.

PCSIR Director General Dr Sakhawat Ali observed on the occasion that the halal meat market was growing rapidly throughout the world.

“Pakistan is on 18th position in terms of halal meat market, and its volume is only 2.9 percent of the global halal meat production, which is very low,” Sakhawat said, adding, “Being a Muslim-majority country, Pakistan could play a pivotal role in this growing market because Pakistan has more than 160 million quality livestock, including 71 million cattle and buffalos and 89 million goats and sheep.”

He said there was no Muslim country included in the list of first 10 halal meat exporters; although Pakistan, Sudan and other Muslim countries had a big potential for exporting the halal meat.

Sakhawat added that the term halal meat did not mean the meat only, but also included more than 26 industries, based on the bi-products of halal meat, such as bone crashing, gelatin, sausages, leather and other industries.

Justice (r) Khaleelur Rahman said that the government was working to introduce Pakistan to the world. as a Halal Kitchen.
“Pakistan has the potential of becoming a market of halal food in the world, Khaleel said, adding, “However, there is a need for marketing in the international halal market in a proper manner.”

He stressed the need for strengthening the farmers so that a large number of livestock and their products could be supplied to the international market.
“Creation of PHDA had been termed as a step towards making Pakistan a halal food hub”. He emphasized.

“The demand for healthy and safe agro-livestock food products is increasing rapidly, with increasing population and socio-economic conditions,” Khaleel said, adding, “This will also open up new economic opportunities and employment for the youth and traders.”

Pakistan’s estimated population in 2015 was over 191.71 million, making it the world’s sixth-most-populous country in the world. The country has great potential to become a promising international Halal market.