UAE halal products system explained to African Standardisation Organisation members

DUBAI, 26th February, 2020 (WAM) — The Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, ESMA, has carried out a knowledge exchange exercise about the UAE’s control systems for halal products, as part of its 2020 range of programmes.

The ESMA training course was carried out for various members of the African Standardisation Organisation, ARSO, which represents the largest regional grouping for standardisation bodies in the African continent.

The training is part of the UAE Programme for Technical Assistance to countries and is aimed at raising the technical capabilities in the field of standardisation. The programme was conducted by Basem Tarawneh, a food specifications specialist, and Jawaher Al-Dhahoury, a specifications researcher.

The ARSO was a guest at the 5th session of the international halal industry platform, which was organised by the ESMA last week, to learn more about the UAE system for halal.

This comes in a context parallel to the study by the ARSO of the Emirati system and its remarkable results obtained globally during the past years, as the organisation conducts standard comparisons of the national halal system to study the possibility of its application at the level of the 37 member states of the organisation.

Khalaf Khalaf, Director of Standards Department at ESMA, said that the training programme designed for members of the organisation touched on the requirements of the UAE system for controlling halal products, in the presence of the vice president of the organisation and the general secretary, and members representing the leaders of standardisation bodies in African countries.

UAE-Africa relations are witnessing remarkable progress, as the trade exchange was estimated at US$44 billion by the end of 2018, of which $5.7 billion was the volume of non-oil exports, which represents 13 percent of the total exports, and means more economic opportunities in the food and beverage sector of halal, Khalaf noted.

The UAE is seeking to open new investment horizons and economic opportunities and is also expanding the deployment of the UAE halal system, which has gained international popularity.