Requirements

Halal Certification Requirements

Halal Certification Services has certified over 500 Food, Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics or Services companies

What does Halal mean ?

“Halal” comes from the arabic “حلال‎‎” (Halal) and means “permissible”. The Quran classifies food, goods and services in different categories such as “Halal” (permitted) or “Haram” (forbidden). To follow this rule, it is essential for consumers to identify if the product they are buying in retail has been produced according to the Quran rules. A clear labelling is only possible when the products are identified as halal during the entire manufacturing process and the trade of purchased raw materials.

What is Halal Certification ?

Halal certification is a voluntary process by which a credible Halal certification body, like HCS, certifies that a company's products or services can be lawfully consumed by Muslims. Products and services meeting the requirements for Halal certification are delivered Halal certificates. They may use a HCS logo on their products and advertising.

Guidelines

Halal Food means food permitted under the Islamic Law and should fulfil the following conditions:

does not consist of or contain anything which is considered to be unlawful according to Islamic Law;

has not been prepared, processed, transported or stored using any appliance or facility that was not free from anything unlawful according to Islamic Law; and

has not in the course of preparation, processing, transportation or storage been in direct contact with any food that fails to satisfy 1 and 2 above.

Notwithstanding Section 1 above:

halal food can be prepared, processed or stored in different sections or lines within the same premises where non-halal foods are produced, provided that necessary measures are taken to prevent any contact between halal and non-halal foods;halal food can be prepared, processed, transported or stored using facilities which have been previously used for non-halal foods provided that proper cleaning procedures, according to Islamic requirements, have been observed.

Non-permitted Food, Ingredients or Additives

The term halal may be used for foods which are considered lawful. Under the Islamic Law, all sources of food are lawful except the following sources, including their products and derivatives which are considered unlawful:

Ingredients of Animal Origin

• Pigs and boars.
• Dogs, snakes and monkeys.
• Carnivorous animals with claws and fangs such as lions, tigers, bears and other similar animals.
• Birds of prey with claws such as eagles, vultures, and other similar birds.
• Pests such as rats, centipedes, scorpions and other similar animals.
• Animals forbidden to be killed in Islam i.e., ants, bees and woodpecker birds.
• Animals which are considered repulsive generally like lice, flies, maggots and other similar animals.
• Animals that live both on land and in water such as frogs, crocodiles and other similar animals.
• Mules and domestic donkeys.
• All poisonous and hazardous aquatic animals.
• Any other animals not slaughtered according to Islamic Law.
• Blood.

Ingredients of Plant Origin

Intoxicating and hazardous plants except where the toxin or hazard can be eliminated during processing.

Drink

• Alcoholic drinks.
• All forms of intoxicating and hazardous drinks.

Slaughtering

• The person should be a Muslim who is mentally sound and knowledgeable of the Islamic slaughtering procedures.
• The animal to be slaughtered should be lawful according to Islamic law.
• The animal to be slaughtered should be alive or deemed to be alive at the time of slaughtering.
• The phrase “Bismillah” (In the Name of Allah) should be invoked immediately before the slaughter of each animal.
• The slaughtering device should be sharp and should not be lifted off the animal during the slaughter act.
• The slaughter act should sever the trachea, oesophagus and main arteries and veins of the neck region.

Preparation, processing, packaging, transportation and storage

All food should be prepared, processed, packaged, transported and stored in such a manner that it complies with Halal Requirements above and the Codex General Principles on Food Hygiene and other relevant Codex Standards.