Peshawar - Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC), Ministry of Science and Technology, yesterday organized an awareness seminar on Halal Accreditation in collaboration with the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) and PCSIR here at the PCSIR laboratory complex to promote and highlight the role of PNAC, need, importance and benefits of Halal Accreditation.
On the occasion, Haji Ghulam Ali, Vice President SAARC Chamber, was chief guest, while Ismat Gul Khattak, Director General PNAC, Secretary Agriculture Dr Israr, and Farid Ullah Khan, DG PCSIR, addressed the inaugural session and appreciated the efforts of PNAC for raising awareness among the stakeholders.
On this occasion, DG PNAC Ismat Gul said that besides Pakistan being a Muslim country its share in the global Halal market is negligible, while non-Muslim states are taking benefits from this trillion dollars global Halal market.
SAARC Chamber Vice President Ghulam Ali said that Pakistan should learn from the experiences of Turkey and Malaysia that how they have developed their economy by focusing on standardization.
The secretary agriculture also mentioned that our farmers are also not taking benefits of calves farming and slaughter them immaturely for the short-term benefits.
The officials informed that Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) is sole an accreditation body under the administrative control of Ministry of Science & Technology.
He added the PNAC has the mandate to accredit Halal Certification Bodies (HCBs).
“In fact, in the field of Halal Accreditation, PNAC is the first Accreditation Body in the world that has launched Halal Accreditation Scheme in 2012. Certificates/Reports issued by accredited Halal Certification Bodies are being accepted around the globe. PNAC engaged in delivering awareness throughout the country on the importance of Halal Accreditation and its benefits to all stakeholders i.e., regulatory bodies, Halal certification bodies, foods service providers, manufacturers and importers of processed/non-processed food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles & leather, crockery, restaurants, tourism, and recreational services providers and other stakeholders, he maintained.
The demand for Halal market/industry is growing at a fast pace. The development initiative, strategies, and controlling mechanism are essential for the promotion of the Halal economy in Pakistan.
In the technical session, Omar Qureshi Project Director, Abdus Sami, Deputy Director, and Farooq Azam, Deputy Director from PNAC, gave presentations on different topics of Halal Accreditation.
Sharia Advisor Maulana Sayd-ul-Arifeen also shed light on the fundamentals of Halal.
Stakeholders from regulatory bodies, certification bodies, industries professionals from different market segment like food, pharmaceutical, textile, cosmetics, and tourism were participated in the seminar.
After the technical session,the DG PNAC and DG PCSIR distributed certificates among the participants of the seminar.
