Why Apply for Halal Certification

What is halal certification

Halal certification is a type of product quality certification carried out by Muslim inspectors in accordance with Halal standards and following halal dietary regulations. It covers the production and processing of raw materials and the halal food made from such materials, with a halal certificate issued for halal food that passes certification. Halal certification has become an effective way for food exporters to enter the markets of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States and to win more market share; a halal certificate has also become the most promising passport for enterprises to expand into high-end European and American markets.

A huge market of 1.9 billion consumers

As people's living standards rise, food health is increasingly important. Today, halal food is increasingly favored. More than 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide must eat Halal food every day for religious reasons, while non-Muslims choose Halal food because of its hygiene, purity and healthiness. So it can be said that one in every four consumers in the world is a consumer of Halal food. According to statistics, nearly 1.9 billion people in the halal market currently have a habit of consuming halal food over the long term, directly generating a transaction volume of US$2.1 trillion each year.

In Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, more than 1.5 billion Muslims must consume halal products every day; in North America there are more than 8 million Muslims who, like the major Muslim countries that import food, require that food be Halal-certified. In Europe, South America and some Pacific island countries, nearly 100 million Halal consumers maintain halal dietary habits.

However, in China, because domestic enterprises have long focused on high-end European and American markets and know little about halal product production standards and the taboos of related raw materials, they have kept the halal market at arm's length and paid little attention to it. Apart from the occasional mention by individual buyers, domestic enterprises rarely have any intention of actively investing in halal product production. This has resulted in a single, narrow domestic halal market, while the international halal market goes even more unattended. Of the global market share of US$2.1 trillion per year, China accounts for less than 0.01%. Yet China's vast western region is currently undergoing large-scale development; many areas have good animal husbandry that can be developed directly into food processing, and by leveraging the mature foreign-trade system of China's southeastern coast to enter the 1.9 billion halal market, this is bound to become a new measure for China's foreign-trade exports.

China–ASEAN halal trade breaks through to zero tariffs

At the beginning of 2010, the China–ASEAN Free Trade Area 'Trade in Goods Agreement' was formally signed. Between China and the six older ASEAN members—Brunei, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore—more than 90% of products will have zero tariffs. China's average tariff on ASEAN will drop from 9.8% to 0.1%, and the six older ASEAN members' average tariff on China will drop from 12.8% to 0.6%. The four newer ASEAN members—Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar—will also achieve zero tariffs on 90% of products by 2015. A huge market of 1.9 billion consumers, an economic scale of nearly US$6 trillion, total trade of US$4.5 trillion... Amid the global economic recovery, what kind of win-win outcome will this bring to China and ASEAN? And how will mainland enterprises eager to 'go out' seize the enormous business opportunities brought by the free-trade area? (Economic Focus, excerpted from People's Daily Online) To seize this brand-new market opportunity, whether an enterprise has an internationally authoritative halal body to provide guidance and certification has become the first task for entering the Halal market.

Scope of Halal certification:

1. All seafood products and their derivatives; 2. Fruit and vegetable products and their derivatives, organic plants; 3. Dairy products whose production equipment meets Halal standards; 4. Additives whose raw materials contain no animal or alcohol components (except alcohol used as a solvent or for disinfection); 5. Oil products derived from vegetable oil or fish oil; 6. Plant extracts; 7. Chemical products and inorganic compounds containing no alcohol components (except alcohol used as a solvent or for disinfection);

Halal certification has become an effective way for food exporters to enter the markets of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States and to win more market share; a halal certificate has also become the most promising passport for enterprises to expand into the 1.9 billion halal market.