UAE Halal Food Technical Requirements

1. General requirements:

a. To comply with Halal regulations, products, services, or systems shall meet the requirements specified in the respective approved UAE standards.

b. Through the necessary inspections, verify whether Halal food complies with the approved UAE standards, or with GCC, regional, or international standards, or any other standard with scientific evidence and recognized by ESMA.

c. Ensure that the product complies with the requirements of this agreement and obtains a Halal certificate or the Halal national mark.

d. Comply with the UAE-recognized mandatory standard UAE.S OIC/SMIIC 1.

e. Implement effective controls to ensure that the implemented products, services, or systems comply with "Halal" law. Supporting documents shall be kept for inspection and audit.

f. Meet any other regulatory requirements issued by UAE official agencies.

g. Shall not supply products produced due to an infection outbreak prohibited by a resolution of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, or for any other reason specified by a resolution of the Ministry.

2. Special requirements for slaughterhouses:

a. Shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 1 of this program.

b. Slaughterhouse personnel shall hold a certificate of professional competence.

c. All raw materials used in production shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 1 of this program.

d. In accordance with the approved UAE mandatory standards UAE.S GSO 1694, they shall pay special attention to good hygiene practices (GHP); UAE.S GSO 21 and UAE.S OIC/SMIIC 1 (Annex 1).

3. Special requirements for Halal certification bodies:

a. They shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 1 of this program.

b. All raw materials used in production shall comply with the requirements of Section 4.1 of this program.

c. In accordance with the approved mandatory UAE standards specified in Chapter 1(d) and UAE.S GSO CAC RCP 58, they shall pay special attention to good hygiene practices (GHP).

d. In addition to an effective plan, they shall also adopt a food safety management plan, such as UAE.S GSO ISO 22000 or HACCP, to ensure the following requirements are met or the food requirements of other ESMA-recognized food safety management systems,

and submit certification documents issued by an ESMA-recognized body.

e. Shall meet the transportation, storage, and distribution requirements specified in the respective approved UAE standards.

4. Halal certificate / Halal national mark:

ESMA shall set the format of the Halal national mark and Halal certificate and shall be the exclusive owner of the intellectual property rights.

5. Labeling requirements

5.1 Labels shall comply with the requirements specified in the approved mandatory UAE standard UAE.S GSO 9 (general); UAE.S OIC/SMIIC 1 and other standards specifically applicable to a given food/foods.

5.2 Labels shall also bear the national Halal mark or any other Halal mark approved by ESMA under a common agreement with the given country.

6. Market surveillance

1. Any product or food that violates this program shall not be manufactured, sold, stored, offered, marketed, promoted, distributed free, or otherwise circulated.

2. Any product bearing any other mark, slogan, label, marking, symbol, illustration, or any other descriptive information indicating compliance with "Halal" but not complying with this program shall be strictly prohibited.

3. Unauthorized use of the Halal certificate or Halal mark for purposes other than its intended use is strictly prohibited.

4. Take necessary samples from all supply points and exports, and conduct necessary inspections to ensure compliance with the requirements of this agreement. If any non-conformity is found, necessary measures shall be taken against the supplier and/or the issuer of the Halal certificate for such products.