Pakistan: Market for Halal products needs to be explored Category: Home, Industry News UK & World

Tags: Halal | Pakistan Market for Halal products needs to be explored

8/10/12 www.thenews.com.pk

A seminar on Halal products was organised by the Department of Agriculture and Agribusiness Management, University of Karachi (KU), a spokesperson of the public sector university said in a press release issued here on Sunday.

Vice-Chancellor of KU, Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser, who presided over the seminar, appreciated the efforts of the department for organising a seminar on such an important topic. He said that the Halal certification was accepted as a symbol of quality and hygiene not only by the Muslims but non-Muslims as well and there was large market available for Halal products that needs to be explored.

Chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Agribusiness Management, KU, Prof Dr Saleem Shahzad, highlighted the importance of the seminar and said that this would provide very important knowledge to the participants especially the students of the department who could utilise it in their professional life.

Mufti Ehsan Ahmed Waqar of Halal Foundation and Mufti Saad Shamim of Halal Industry Research Centre emphasised the importance of Halal products in the light of Sharia and explained the Sharia way of slaughter.

Muhammad Akram Khan and Raheel Iqbal of Hilal Industry Research Centre, Umar Mukhtar Tarar of PCSIR, Khuwaja Ghulam Moinuddin of PSQC Association, Zehra Shakir Khan of RINA / RI&CA, Shaharyar Ahmed Khan of SGS, Pakistan and Dr Abdul Rab Farooqui, Pharmaceutical Consultant also made deliberations about Halal certification.

The speakers said, “Only knowing about Halal and Haram things is not enough. We should know everything about the product and its ingredients”. “Each and every component of the food and the way of its preparation and every step of the supply chain has to be certified as Halal by a competent authority,” they expressed.

Even a minute amount of component, the way of its storage or supply that is not Halal can make the food Haram. It was emphasised that it is the right of the consumers to ask the retailers about Halal certified products in order to take care of their health. Halal standards should be followed not only for food but for garments, cosmetics and medicines as well, they said.

It was also mentioned that there is a tremendous market for Halal products throughout the world worth trillions of dollars but the share of Pakistan in it is negligible. “Implementation of Halal procedures and getting our products certified as Halal by a competent authority can improve our health standards besides increasing our exports tremendously,” the experts suggested.