Pakistan: 4 accreditation certificates awarded to promote Halal food

Thursday, February 04, 2016 – Islamabad—Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) has so far Pakistan Flagawarded accreditation certificate to four (04) Halal Certification bodies in the country to ensure purity and quality of those items. Being the National Accreditation Body, PNAC had launched Halal Accreditation Scheme according to Pakistan Standard PS-4992- 2010, in line with requirements of OIC/SMIIC Halal Guidelines for recognition and acceptability of Halal Certification Bodies operating in Pakistan.

Specifying the steps taken by government to explore new markets in order to increase export of Halal meat and other Halal items, sources at Commerce Division on Wednesday said Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) had ensured participation of Pakistani companies in international exhibitions such as Foodex, Jeddah and World Food Moscow.

TDAP also sent a trade delegation to Moscow and St. Petersburg in September last year, comprising 13 companies from food sector including two companies from Halal Meat sector while Inspectors from Malaysia and Egypt visited Pakistan in last two years which led to selection of a total of seven companies (from Pakistan) for export to these countries. The other steps included that Ministry of Science and Technology was in process to establish Pakistan Halal Authority to promote interalia trade in Halal articles, Pakistan Standard & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has formulated standards for Halal products while Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) has established Halal Authentication laboratory at its Labs in Lahore and Peshawar for export and import of Halal items according to Islamic Shariah. Moreover, the sources said Animal Quarantine Department (AQD) of Ministry of National Food Security and Research was regulating import and export of animals and animal products as per provisions of Animal Quarantine Act, 1979 and Rules, 1980.—APP