China and New Zealand Sign an Agreement Related to Halal Certification of Meat

Source: China Food News

On 18 April, witnessed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Sun Dawei, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and Director of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA), and Roger, Deputy Director-General of New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries, signed in Beijing the 'Arrangement on Halal Certification of Meat Exported From New Zealand to the People's Republic of China' (hereinafter referred to as the 'Agreement'). The two sides made coordinated arrangements on matters of Halal certification of beef and mutton exported from New Zealand to China, establishing a product traceability and information notification mechanism to ensure the authenticity of certification and the reliability of the source of these Halal meat products, to facilitate identification by domestic consumers and to prevent uncertified or counterfeit-certified overseas Halal food from flowing into the domestic market.

Under this Agreement, New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries will regularly notify the CNCA of information on meat products exported to China that have obtained New Zealand Halal certification, and the CNCA will publish this certification information and the registration information of overseas production enterprises on its official website. Domestic consumers can identify products by checking the Halal certification mark on the product and the website information. Given that China has not yet established a unified Halal certification system, the Agreement also stipulates that Halal meat imported from New Zealand, when sold and reprocessed in China, must comply with the local laws and regulations on Halal production and operation formulated by various localities in China.

In recent years, China's imports of beef and mutton have continued to grow, and meat products using the Halal certification mark have continued to increase. Some certifications and marks have not been reviewed and evaluated by authoritative certification bodies, causing confusion for domestic consumers and regulatory authorities. To standardize Halal certification, the CNCA has actively played its certification supervision role, cooperated with foreign government authorities, and intensified supervision and management of the certification of imported Halal food.

New Zealand is one of the main source countries for China's imports of beef and mutton, and an important exporter in the international trade of Halal meat food. To ensure that exported food meets the international market's Halal requirements, New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries has established an official Halal food certification system, authorizing authoritative bodies to carry out Halal certification, with the Ministry for Primary Industries issuing unified electronic certificates; certified Halal food uses a unified New Zealand Halal certification mark.

The Agreement signed by the two sides this time makes clear provisions on how the New Zealand side authorizes certification bodies, how certification bodies carry out certification, and how products use certification certificates and marks, which is conducive to coordination and alignment between the two sides on Halal certification supervision and to standardizing related certification and trade activities.