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Halal Congress Middle East

Halal Congress Middle East

SMIIC General Secretariat participated in the 1st Halal Congress Middle East where the Secretary General H.E. Haluk Dağ gave a speech on “Developing a global system, SMIIC and Halal Food Standards”. Under the kind patronage of H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah and in joint collaboration between Expo Centre Sharjah and Halal Development Council, the 1st Halal Congress Middle East was held in Expo Centre Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on 11-12 December 2012.

 

The Congress was attended by more than 200 delegates from the following 37 Countries, 8 International Institutions and prominent speakers from different organizations(see Congress  program for further detail http://www.halalcongress.com/PDF/Program.pdf ):

Countries: Algeria, Austria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyz Republic, Kuwait, Malaysia, Netherland, Oman, Pakistan, Philippine, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States of America

Institutions: OIC General Secretariat, Islamic Development Bank(IDB), International Trade Centre, The Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries(SMIIC), UAE Ministry of Water and Environment, Islamic Centre for Trade Development(ICDT), Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Expo Centre Sharjah, and Halal Development Council.

During the Congress there was consensus on the need for a Global Halal Standard and the need for a platform where these standards can be formed. The SMIIC Secretary General Mr. Haluk Dağ explained that SMIIC was established to be the platform for global halal standards by the OIC Countries. He explained during his speech that:

  1. The idea to establish a sound mechanism for the harmonization of standards among Islamic countries can be traced back to the 1st Meeting of the Economic and Commercial Cooperation Standing Committee (COMCEC) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 1984. 
  1. The Standardization Experts Group for Islamic Countries (SEG) which was established in 1985 for this purpose worked to this end and its work led to the approval of the SMIIC (The Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries) Statute at the COMCEC Meeting in 1998. SMIIC is an affiliated organ to OIC and its Statute entered into force in May 2010. 
  1. SMIIC aims at realizing harmonized standards among the OIC Member States and eliminating technical barriers to trade and thus developing trade between themselves. SMIIC also aims at achieving uniformity in metrology, laboratory testing and standardization activities among Member States and will aid in providing education and training, technical assistance to the OIC Members in the domain of standardization, metrology and accreditation.

The Secretary General further explained that global Halal Standards already exist, have been adopted and are being implemented by Muslim countries:

  1. OIC/SMIIC 1: 2011- General Guidelines on Halal Food
  2. OIC/SMIIC 2: 2011- Guidelines for Bodies Providing Halal Certification
  3. OIC/SMIIC 3: 2011- Guidelines for the Halal Accreditation Body Accrediting Halal Certification Bodies

these were developed by SEG and highlighted that:

  1. SEG was mandated to develop Halal Food standards and procedures at the 23rd Meeting of COMCEC in 2007 and prepared three draft standards by getting general consensus through mutual work and contribution among its stakeholders namely OIC Member Countries and International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) and other interested parties like four schools of thought (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi and Hanbali).
  1. After the discussions on the comments received, the formed final drafts, namely the “General Guidelines on Halal Food”, “Guidelines for Bodies Providing Halal Certification” and “Guidelines for the Halal Accreditation Body Accrediting Halal Certification Bodies” were considered and adopted as “OIC/SMIIC 1: 2011”, “OIC/SMIIC 2: 2011” and “OIC/SMIIC 3: 2011” standards respectively in May 2011 and entered into force.

The Secretary General further added that the OIC Accreditation Committee which is an independant body, has been established and is working to establish an internationally recognized accreditation mechanism for Halal Certification Scheme.

The Congress ended with a list of non-binding recommendations.

You can find some news related with the 1st Halal Congress Middle East at the below stated links:

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20121216146132

http://muslimvillage.com/2012/12/15/33044/unified-global-halal-standards-top-of-the-agenda-say-food-experts/

11/12/2012