Halal Certification for Food Imported into Jordan

Halal certification for food imported into Jordan

Currently, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has a population of 5.907 million (2006 statistics), of which more than 90% are Muslim. As a net food-importing country, Jordan relies on imports for most of its food, with some food also used for re-export. Halal food occupies an important position in Jordan's food imports. This article briefly introduces the situation of Halal food certification in Jordan.

1. Authorities in charge of food and agricultural product imports and certification

Due to the special nature of food and agricultural products in import management, Jordan's food and agricultural product certification management involves various departments. Among them, the Ministry of Health (MOH) manages imported food and drugs in accordance with relevant technical regulations; the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) manages imported meat, animal feed, plant seedlings, etc., in accordance with relevant technical regulations. The Institute of Standards and Metrology (JISM) is responsible for national standardization, conformity assessment (including certification, accreditation, testing, inspection, etc.) and metrology, and its Certification Department is specifically responsible for international certification work. The Institute of Standards and Metrology, the Ministry of Health's Food and Drug Administration (JFDA), the Ministry of Agriculture and the Customs Department (CA) jointly form a committee to conduct conformity inspections of imported food and agricultural products at border ports, carrying out graded sampling inspections according to three levels: high, medium and low risk.

2. Imported food and agricultural products that Jordan requires to be certified

Article 31 of Jordan's 1998 Customs Law stipulates that customs declarations must include the following: first, the sea or air cargo manifest; second, a commercial invoice including valuation, weight, freight and insurance, with all invoices notarized by the Jordanian diplomatic mission in the country of origin, or certified by the local chamber of commerce and, with the consent of Jordanian customs, deemed valid; third, a notarized original certificate issued by the relevant local authority of the exporter; fourth, a shipment estimate declaration for goods exceeding 2,000 Jordanian dinars (US$2,820). Customs may also require other documents related to the shipment as needed.

According to clause 3 of this regulation, Jordan's customs ports require relevant certification for food and agricultural products imported into Jordan. Currently, the food and agricultural products that require certification mainly include: milk powder, flavored milk, beef, processed meat, poultry, fish, cheese, honey, fruits and vegetables, etc. Among them, the import of beef, various processed meats and poultry requires a HALAL certificate to ensure that the slaughter procedure conforms to Islamic traditional customs, and also requires other certificates such as a certificate of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary certificate, and veterinary health certificate (see the table below), which are mainly reviewed by Jordan's agricultural authorities.

Product

Certification content (1)

Objective

Jordanian departments involved

Beef

Certificate of origin

Customs valuation, human health, risk control

Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Standards and Metrology, Food and Drug Administration, Customs

Sanitary and phytosanitary certificate

Veterinary health certificate

Food safety, prevention of contagious or infectious diseases

Ministry of Agriculture

HALAL certificate

Ensuring the slaughter procedure conforms to Islamic tradition, food quality, consumer protection

Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Standards and Metrology

Hormone-free certificate

Ensuring the meat contains no hormones

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration

Certificate of freedom from BSE high-risk tissues (2)

Ensuring the meat contains no BSE high-risk tissues, food safety

Ministry of Agriculture

Processed meat

Certificate of origin

Customs valuation, human health, risk control

Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Standards and Metrology, Food and Drug Administration, Customs

Sanitary and phytosanitary certificate

Veterinary health certificate

Food safety, prevention of contagious or infectious diseases

Ministry of Agriculture

HALAL certificate

Ensuring the slaughter procedure conforms to Islamic tradition, food quality, consumer protection

Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Standards and Metrology

Hormone-free certificate

Ensuring the meat contains no hormones

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration

Certificate of freedom from BSE high-risk tissues

Ensuring the meat contains no BSE high-risk tissues, food safety

Ministry of Agriculture

Poultry

Certificate of origin

Customs valuation, human health, risk control;

Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Standards and Metrology, Food and Drug Administration, Customs

HALAL certificate

Ensuring the slaughter procedure conforms to Islamic tradition, food quality, consumer protection

Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Standards and Metrology

Residue control program certificate

Food safety

Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Standards and Metrology, Food and Drug Administration

Certificate that flock-raised poultry have not been fed cattle bone and meat meal

Food safety

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration

Note 1: The English names of the certificates listed above are as follows:

Certificate of origin: Country of Origin Certificate, COOC;

Sanitary and phytosanitary certificate: Sanitary and Phytosanitary, SPS;

Veterinary health certificate: Veterinary Animal Health Certificate, VAHC;

HALAL certificate: Halal Certificate, HC;

Hormone-free certificate: A Hormone Free Certificate;

Certificate of freedom from BSE high-risk tissues: Free from BSE High-risk Tissues Certificate;

Residue control program certificate: Residues Monitoring Program Certificate;

Certificate that flock-raised poultry have not been fed cattle bone and meat meal: Poultry meat from flocks have not been fed on bovine bone and meat meals certificate.

Note 2: If the country of origin has suffered from BSE, a certificate of freedom from BSE high-risk tissues must be issued; China is not on this list.

3. The situation of Halal food certification for imports into Jordan

Currently, as a member of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), Jordan mainly carries out standardization and certification activities for Halal food and agricultural products according to the Codex Alimentarius food standards formulated by FAO and WHO. Among them, the 'General Guidelines for Use of the Term Halal' (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines) is the dedicated standard for Halal food.

In 1997, the 22nd session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted the CAC/GL 24-1997 standard 'General Guidelines,' and sent it as a recommended text to FAO and WHO member states for their reference. The Guidelines state: according to the interpretations of different Halal schools, there may be slight differences in the interpretation of slaughter ordinances and whether livestock conform to Halal law, and the Codex Alimentarius Commission accepts such differences. At the same time, the Guidelines are subject to the interpretation of the importing country's authoritative body. However, unless the importing country has other specific requirements, in principle it should accept the certificate issued by the exporting country's religious authority. The Guidelines provide detailed provisions on the definition of HALAL food, the definition of lawful food, slaughter standards, preparation, processing, packaging, transportation and storage standards, and additional labeling requirements.

Currently, Jordan recognizes official HALAL certificates issued by Southeast Asian countries and regions. All certificates issued by Southeast Asian governments can be sold in Jordan and other Arab countries and the Middle East region.