19th International Halal Food Conference

Decades ago, halal certification was provided by individuals on a part-time basis and by marketers/exporters actually certifying themselves (self-certification). Over the years, importing countries demanded more control and began approving specific plants (meat, poultry, egg, dairy) and recognizing specific halal certification bodies (HCBs). Only product from those approved plants would be allowed to enter the country and only halal certificates from those recognized HCBs would be accepted. This led to the development of organized halal certification bodies around the world. Recently, accreditation bodies began forming to further qualify the HCBs by requiring them to have clear written procedures for how they perform the halal certification. The accreditation bodies would audit the HCBs to assess compliance with the written procedures. HCBs would be required to document what they do, how they do it, and how they address noncompliance with the procedures. The accreditation bodies followed the methodology developed by the International Standards Organization. We are now witnessing the combination of accreditation and recognition based on competence and credibility.