A seminar on “Halal: Symbol of Intolerance in the Hygiene, Safety and Quality” was organized by the Department of Agriculture and Agribusiness Management, University of Karachi. KU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser presided over the seminar and appreciated the efforts of the department for organizing the event, said a statement issued on Sunday. He said that the Halal certification is accepted as a symbol of quality and hygiene not only by the Muslims but non-Muslims as well and there is large market available for Halal products that needs to be explored.
Chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Agribusiness Management, Prof. Dr Saleem Shahzad highlighted the importance of the seminar and said that this will provide very important knowledge to the participants specially the students of the department who can utilize it in their professional life.
Mufti Ehsan Ahmed Waqar of Halal Foundation and Mufti Saad Shamim of Halal Industry Research Center emphasized the importance of Halal products in the light of Sharia and explained the Sharin way of slaughter.
Muhammad Akram Khan and Raheel Iqbal of Hilal Industry Research Center, Umar Mukhtar Tarar of PCSIR, Khuwaja Ghula Moinuddin of PSQC Association, Zehra Shakir Khan or RINA/RI&CA, Shaharyar Ahmed Khan of SGS, Pakistan and Dr Abdul Rab Farooqui, Pharmaceutical Consultant also made deliberations about Halal certification. The speakers said that only knowing about the Halal and Haram things is not enough. We should know every thing about the product and its ingredients. They said each and every component of the food and the way of its preparation and every step of the supply chain has to be certified as Halal by a competent authority. They said even a minute amount of component, the way of its storage or supply that is not Halal can make the food Hamm. It was emphasized that it is the right of the consumers to ask the retailers about Halal certified products in order to take care of their health. Halal standards should be followed not only for food but for garments, cosmetics and medicines as well. It was also mentioned that there is a tremendous market for Halal products throughout the world that worth trillions of dollars but the share of Pakistan in it is negligible.
Implementation of Halal procedures and getting our products certified us Halal by a competent authority can improve our health standards besides increasing our exports tremendously, they said.
