After UP’s halal ban revealed gaps in the system, a look at how the certification process works

In April, DGFT issued notification for halal certification process for export of meat & meat products. Certification is commercial activity to encash on religious lifestyle, says HaSIL's D-G.

File photo of a raid being conducted on halal certified products in UP's Gorakhpur | ANI

New Delhi: Dietary practice for many, while “unrestrained propaganda” and dietary imposition to some. On 18 November, the Uttar Pradesh government and halal food were in news for the ban on such products barring those meant for exports.

A month into the Food Security and Drug Administration (FSDA) notification, two major questions remain: Who gives ‘halal’ certification? Is this certification required for non-animal products such as vegan and non-edible items?

It is pertinent to note that there was earlier no mechanism for halal certification in the country. In April 2023, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification giving conditions for halal certification process for meat and meat products meant for exports.

In the notification, the DGFT said that meat and meat products shall be allowed to be exported as “halal certified” only if produced, processed and/or packaged in a facility having a valid certification under the India Conformity Assessment Scheme (i-CAS)- Halal of the Quality Council of India (QCI) issued by a certification body duly accredited by the NABCB as per the guidelines issued/amended from time to time.”

All existing halal certification bodies were given six months to seek accreditation from NABCB for i-CAS halal, it added.

This order regularised the process of halal certification for products meant for exports since many private players were encashing on the rush to get the accreditation.  

“Since many companies were indulging in exports and the halal certification trend grew in India as well, a need was felt to have a process to streamline the certification process. Private organisations had been issuing such certificates on the demand from the exporters,” a UP government official said. 

According to Lucknow-based Halal Shariat Islamic Law (HaSIL) Board director-general Sudhir Kumar Jha, halal certification is a commercial activity to encash the religious lifestyle. 

“Halal certification is a commerce industry totally relying on demand and supply. But, we also cannot deny the fact that halal certification has been misused by the unregulated unauthentic certification bodies and their malpractice for maximum gain,” he told ThePrint. 

Prior to the April order, entities like the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust (JUHHT), Delhi would give halal certification to products authenticating if a particular item was prepared as per Islamic norms.

While the process of granting certification remains the same, the change in UP will be that only products certified by three NABCB-accredited organisations can be sold and those of non-accredited ones are being withdrawn to comply with the 10 December deadline to recall all such products.

According to the UP government, the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) has accredited only three entities — JUHHT, HaSIL, and Jamiat Ulama Halal Foundation (JUHF), Mumbai — to give halal certification to meat and meat-related products.

A member of the World Halal Food Council, JUHHT is a leading halal certification body with a distinct and patented Halal logo. According to its website, the trust is run by the country’s largest and oldest Muslim NGO Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind. It has seven offices providing halal certification to compliant restaurants, hotels, hospitals, processed food manufacturing units, slaughter houses and other halal certification-related services.  

In its profile, HaSIL describes itself as a subordinate organisation of Halal Shariat Islamic Law Trust, a registered trust under Indian Trust Act, 1882, but a separate legal entity designated specifically for halal food safety assessments. It has designed a system conforming to Shariah law and ISO IEC 17065 for getting accreditation, the company says.

On its website, the JUHF, a subsidiary of the Jamiat Ulama–e–Maharashtra, says that it looks after all matters pertaining to the general application of the term halal with specific reference to Islamic dietary laws. Jamiat is committed to standardising halal procedures both nationally and internationally thereby creating uniformity & eliminating confusion and deception in the market, it says.

These entities cannot issue a certificate for vegan and non-edible products but if exporters want this certification for such products, they get it from such entities (although there is no well defined mechanism to regulate certification for such exports), NABCB officials confirmed.

While halal certification is necessary for exporting products to many foreign countries, companies engaged in the certification process say that such certification for sale within India is “voluntary” and dependent on “market demand.”

JUHHT secretary Niaz Ahmed Farooqui told ThePrint that halal certification is not required for local sale. “It is possible that few companies are selling packaged products with such certification, but this is mostly required for exports to countries like the UAE, Malaysia, etc,” he said.

“If someone wishes to sell meat in India, halal certification is not a compulsion,” HaSIL’s Jha told ThePrint.

UP FSDA commissioner Anita Singh told ThePrint that there are about 800 companies across the country that took halal certification from different organisations — many of which are not accredited.

“Halal certification is not required in India and such labeling as ‘halal certified’ is illegal, barring those for the exports. However, around 800 companies have taken such certification from firms which were not accredited. People have formed private companies and have been issuing ‘halal certified’ certificates. However, in UP, they will now have to stop using these labels and change the labeling,” she said.

In UP, there are 92 manufacturers, including meat exporters, with halal certification and most of them are based in western part of the state, she said.

Since the monitoring of the certification process started this year, there is no count on how many applications were received under the new regime in the last eight months. 

JUHHT secretary Farooqui claimed while the Trust was mostly providing certificates for halal items meant for exports, some companies might be selling them in local markets.

“The government is misleading the public. We challenge it to show any product which has our certification selling locally; we only issue certificates for exports. This is mere propaganda ahead of elections. Some companies may be selling the products locally. Plus, many of the products getting seized may be imported having halal certification from foreign entities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind (JUH) Maharashtra has approached the Supreme Court against the FIR lodged by the Lucknow Police naming it, JUHHT, Halal India Private Limited, Halal Council of India, on the suspicion of passing on “inappropriate benefits to anti-social and anti-national elements”.

It was this FIR based on the complaint of a BJYM leader that resulted in the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government coming out with the halal ban. Last week, the UP Special Task Force issued notices to the companies to explain about their method of certification, share information about its procedure and whether or not they are accredited, STF chief Amitabh Yash told ThePrint.

“First of all, the JUH Maharashtra has nothing to do with certification. We have not issued a single certificate ever. Halal certification is done by JUHF which is a different outfit. We have mentioned in the petition that our name has been wrongly used to defame us,” JUH Maharashtra general secretary Haleemullah Qasmi told ThePrint.

From now on, advocate Shahid Nadeem, who represents the JUHF, said all the affected manufacturers were simply going to replace the same product with a different packaging. “Only wrappers of ready-to-eat products will be changed. Serious charges were levelled in the FIR without any inquiry. At least a preliminary inquiry should have been carried out before lodging the FIR,” he told ThePrint. 

‘Halal certified’ tags for vegan, non-edible products 

As the UP FSDA started seizing products with ‘halal certified’ labels of non-NABCB accredited organisations, the large scale of seizures showed loopholes in the certification process. Within three days of the ban, the FSDA seized 2,275 kg of food products from 38 districts, inspected 482 business establishments, and collected 83 samples for testing.

The i-CAS scheme identifies various food chain categories that cover farming of animals, plants, food manufacturing among others. This covers from fish and seafood, meat, eggs, dairy and fish to biscuits, snacks, oil, drinking water, beverages, pasta, flour, sugar, and food-grade salt.

“The i-CAS scheme is open for every kind of product and is not limited to meat and related products but as of now, companies are only accredited to issue certificates for the latter and that too for exports. This is because no one has applied for accreditation in other categories although a few entities have put queries about the same,” a senior central government official told ThePrint.

NABCB director Varsha Mishra says that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) should develop a mechanism for regulation of vegan products. “As of now, nobody is regulating companies certifying vegan items as ‘halal certified’, but FSSAI should develop a mechanism because it is the product regulator. We are an accreditation body,” she said.

Three companies have sought accreditation to certify products as “halal certified” and their applications are being processed, she added.

Halal preference growing in India?

Advocate Nadeem contended that customers are demanding ‘halal certified’ products due to growing awareness about them. More and more companies are taking these certificates depending on the market demand and are selling such products within the country, he said.

Many companies have been seeking certificates for vegan items as well, he said. “Nowadays, companies are seeking halal certification for every kind of product, be it sugar, oil, biscuits, cosmetics and medicines, etc. It has become a fashion to have halal certificates. Companies seek certificates due to customer demands. After chemical testing, certificates are given to them,” he added.

In their 2019 research, Yusuf Hassan from University of South Florida Sarasota Manatee and Anirban Sibnath Sengupta from IIM-Indore mention that many popular brands have obtained halal certification for carrying out business in India. 

“These brands include big names such as BodyShop, Patanjali and CavinKare. Due to lack of awareness and stereotypes associated with religious practices, companies and individuals have not been able to promote halal certification and other standardization practices aggressively. It is only in recent years when a surge has been observed in the demand and supply for halal certifications. Countries such as the UK, which have Muslims falling under minorities, are setting a new trend by reflecting an overwhelming response from multinational chains to serve halal products. We believe that India too can experience such changes shortly,” it noted. 

Some top FMCG companies which have been certified by JUHHT include Nestlé and Patanjali, it said. “Surprisingly, Patanjali is a favourite brand that has the majority of its customers from the Hindu community, not Muslim.” 

However, some Right-wing outfits like Bengaluru-based Vishwa Sanatan Parishad have submitted petitions to the government urging it to regulate the process of halal certification by private bodies for ensuring that they work independent of vested interests. They have also demanded that such bodies must inform the government about the inflow and outflow of money involved in the certification process.

Meanwhile, Ghanshyam Das, state president of West UP Sanyukt Udyog Vyapar Mandal, alleged small shopkeepers were facing harassment in the garb of action on unauthorised halal certification.

“They have been given only 15 days to recall their products… They should at least be given two months. The companies should be punished and not the sellers. Officials don’t listen to shopkeepers,” Das told ThePrint. 

FSDA assistant food commissioner S.P. Singh said that among the items seized include besan, maida, tea, biscuit, pulses, pasta, sewai among others. “As of now, we don’t have any clear order whether to leave out meat products or imported ones. We made inspections for all kinds of halal certified packaged and edible food items,” he added.

(Edited by Tony Rai)