Pakistan: PHDA accredited as first Halal certification body

Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC), Ministry of Science and Technology PHDAhas accredited the Punjab Halal Development Agency (PHDA) as the first ever public sector Halal Certification Body (HCB) in Pakistan for three years.

After the accreditation, PHDA will conduct Halal audit of interested edible producers as per Pakistan Standard, and after the satisfactory report about the utilization of Halal ingredients and production processes as per Islamic law, the PHDA will grant Halal certification for one year and if found unsatisfactory, PHDA will forward its recommendations to the relevant institutions for legal action.

Chairman, PHDA Justice Khalil-u-Rehman Khan said,

“The approval of Halal Agency as HCB is a landmark achievement of Halal Agency and we are thankful to PNAC and Ministry of Science & Technology.”

He further said that in the first phase, PHDA will request to all Halal producers and importers including cosmetics, personal care products, milk, meat, confectionery, soap, and all other edible producers to get Halal certification by PHDA to certify their products as Halal.

In case of not availing the Halal certification, PHDA will recommend to the authorities to take action against those manufacturers and importers, he revealed.

After the Halal certification, Pakistani export will also get boost as worldwide people like to consume products certified by a government owned HCB, he added.