Halal Certified: ‘Meat, its products will be allowed to be exported only if…’-Modi Govt notifies certification guidelines
The Modi government on Thursday issued a clarification concerning the export of meat and its products as ‘halal certified’. Now, such items will be permitted for export as ‘halal certified’ only if they are produced, processed and packaged in a facility having a valid certificate issued by a body accredited by a board of the Quality Council of India.
There will, however, be no change in the procedure for export of non-halal certified meat and meat products, the commerce ministry noted in its clarification on Thursday. It added that the export consignments to countries where there is a regulation on halal, the producer/supplier/exporter would have to meet the importing country’s requirements.
Earlier this year, the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) shared draft guidelines on halal certification for export of meat and its products so as to streamline the halal certification process for export of meat and meat products. “Policy conditions for halal certification process of meat and meat products is notified,” the DGFT said in a notification.
All existing halal certification bodies have been given six month-time to seek accreditation from NABCB (national accreditation board for certification bodies) for i-CAS (Indian conformity assessment scheme) Halal.
“Meat and meat products shall be allowed to be exported as ‘halal certified’, only if produced, processed and/or packaged in facility having a valid certification under the i-CAS of the Quality Council of India (QCI), issued by a certification body duly accredited by the NABCB as per the guidelines issued/amended from time to time,” the notification said.
