Govt streamlines halal certification process for meat products

Procedure for export of non-halal certified meat and meat products will remain unchanged

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the agency of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India has recently issued a notification regarding the streamlining of the Halal Certification process for meat and meat products. As per the notification, meat and meat products shall be allowed to be exported as “Halal certified”, only if produced, processed and/or packaged in a facility having a valid certification under the “India Conformity Assessment Scheme (iCAS) — Halal” of the Quality Council of India (QCI), issued by a Certification Body duly accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) as per the guidelines issued/amended from time to time.

The export consignment(s) to countries where there is a regulation on Halal, the producer/ supplier/ exporter shall also meet the importing country’s requirements/regulations, as applicable, and shall hold valid certificate(s) issued by Halal certification bodies approved under the national halal system of the importing country. In such cases, the Halal certification under i-CAS Halal shall be initially voluntary on the part of the producer/supplier/exporter.

All existing Halal Certification Bodies shall have six months’ time from the date of issue (April 6th) of this notification to seek accreditation from NABCB for i-CAS Halal. All existing Export Units, including those already registered with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) as members, shall have six months’ time from the date of issue of this notification, for registering themselves at dedicated and integrated online portal for meat exports developed by APEDA.

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