Govt to establish halal food authority

ISLAMABAD: The government is to establish a first of its kind halal food authority in order to regulate the production of food and non-food items for import and export. This body is to be set up under the Ministry of Science and Technology and run by a board of governors. Officials at the ministry revealed that the documentation is complete to move forward to fulfil the legislative process. Federal Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid said Pakistan’s share in the export of halal food items is nominal. “This amount in total comes up to $2 trillion,” said Hamid.

An official at the ministry said the private and public sector companies would be accredited with the halal food authority and efforts would be made to boost the export of halal products through the proposed regulatory authority. Science and Technology federal secretary Kamran Ali Qureshi told The Express Tribune that Pakistan has less than 5% share in the trillion dollar industry. “Pakistan lacks a national body for this purpose,” he remarked. Qureshi further added that the proposed act is to promote the sector, ensure implementation of uniform standards and promote trade with foreign countries. The ministry official stated that the body would be regulated as per the guidelines of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for halal items. The official said that stern action would be taken against manufacturers of sub-standard food products and also those which are not accredited with the Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA). Hamid remarked that all testing laboratories would be registered with the Ministry of Science and Technology while PSQCA approved food items would not be sent to other provinces for testing. Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2014.