Standards and Regulations

Pork or dog meat ingredients are likely to be stored, handled, or processed. Due to the threat posed by pork and dog meat, the Halal Food Certification Authority has decided to incorporate pork and dog meat into its policies and standards. This is explained below.

Now, all halal poultry, meat and food processors must provide a halal production environment to segregate all storage, handling, production, labeling and transportation operations, including all similar activities, to avoid potential cross-contamination and the presence of any foreign DNA in halal products. The detailed requirements are as follows:

1. All Halal poultry and meat should be sourced from suppliers that have a valid Halal certification or a certificate from a qualified Halal certification body. Self-certification of the Halal status of meat and poultry is not recognized.

2. All halal food production must be carried out using dedicated equipment, utensils, production lines and storage facilities and must not come into contact with pork, dog meat or their ingredients under any circumstances.

3. Halal certification bodies reserve the right to conduct unannounced audits of a factory's processing sites/facilities for verification checks and routine monitoring of the factory's halal production operations based on information provided to the halal certification body. At any time during an announced or unannounced audit, the halal certification body's auditors will be provided with access to the site and relevant records and information upon request. If access to the site or relevant information is denied during an unannounced audit, a major non-conformity may be determined, which will result in the suspension and eventual revocation of the halal certification of the in-scope facility and products.

4. The Halal Certification Body has also decided to arrange for third-party DNA testing of the factory's halal products (including meat and poultry) to protect the halal integrity of the products and in the interests of consumers. The Halal Certification Body reserves the right to arrange for these DNA tests to be mandatory. If the factory fails to provide a dedicated halal food production environment to segregate pork, dog meat, and their ingredients, and continues to use the factory's production facilities for processing pork and halal food without segregation, the Halal Certification Body will have no choice but to terminate the agreement and withdraw the current Halal certificate. No cleaning/sanitation regime can replace the aforementioned requirement to segregate the pork.