First Halal Certification Centre Being Created: DG

Pakistan Halal Authority (PHA) Director General Akhtar Ahmad Bhugio said on Thursday the first state-of-the-art Halal Certification Centre was being created to facilitate people to confirm certified halal products through a toll-free telephone number

FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Dec, 2023) Pakistan Halal Authority (PHA) Director General Akhtar Ahmad Bhugio said on Thursday the first state-of-the-art Halal Certification Centre was being created to facilitate people to confirm certified halal products through a toll-free telephone number.

Addressing an awareness session at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), he said that a "halal app" is also being introduced along with a QR Code to scan and get its full details on a single click. He dispelled the general notion that the PHA was only restricted to edible products. He clarified that in a broader perspective, it covers many sectors including textile, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, banking, tourism, media and fashion etc.

He urged the business community to replenish their knowledge about the $4.2 trillion global market of halal products which is growing at a much faster pace. He said that the PHA would facilitate the business community to enhance Pakistan's share in this sector by transforming our prevalent weaknesses into dynamic opportunities. He said that our focus should be on the Islamic countries as we could easily promote Pakistan as the brand exporter of halal products in all sectors of the economy.

He disclosed that the OIC countries were importing 85 per cent halal products from the non-Muslims countries and it is an eye opener for us. He said that the vision of the PHA was to make Pakistan a gateway to halal assurance and in this connection, we have to evolve a trustable system which could be easily adopted by the business community.

He said that no doubt Faisalabad is hub of textile but application of halal could also add value into their products and help Pakistan to fetch more foreign exchange by exporting a well-defined chain of halal textile products. About the operational strategy, Mr. Akhtar Ahmad Bhugio said that PHA has adopted an innovative approach to make everything transparent by entrusting certification to the private labs and only regulating their related issues.

He said that PHA could also sign an MOU with FCCI to create much needed awareness among the business community of Faisalabad. Responding to a question, he said that the head office of PHA has been established in Islamabad while BOG has allowed its offices in all provincial headquarters while in a later phase liaison office would also be established at the district level. He further said that in order to check the halal certification of imported items, PHA has been allowed to appoint examination officers at Karachi, Bin Qassim and Gwadar ports.

About the poor performance of the beef and meat exporting sector, he said that this job is being done in an unorganized manner and we must introduce modern techniques to make it a formal export sector. He said that Pakistan could earn billions of dollars by just exporting meat and beef to Saudi Arabia during hajj season.

Earlier Acting President Dr Sajjad Arshad said that textile is an iconic representation of Faisalabad but now the local community is switching over to other emerging sectors including IT and halal. He said that Pakistan was already exporting hatching and table eggs to Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman. He lamented that the government inflicted a colossal loss to the poultry sector by banning import of soybean, however, the ban was lifted when the 50% industry was devastated.

Dr Sajjad Arshad mentioned the inauguration of the first business facilitation centre in Lahore and said that halal certification should also be linked with this portal for the immediate issuance of NOCs and certificates. Haji Gulzar Ahmad, Shafique Hussain Shah, Sana ullahNiazi, Khalid Mehmood Shah, Maqsood Akhtar Butt, Haji Naeem, Prof Dr Javed Aziz Awan, Haji Muhammad Saleem, Muhammad Azhar Chaudhary and other members also participated in the question-answer session. Later Vice President Haji Muhammad Aslam Bhalli offered vote of thanks while Dr Sajjad Arshad presented FCCI shield to Mr Akhtar Ahmad Bhugio. A presentation on PHA was also shown on the screen.