November 12, 2018

HFC pARTICIPATION REPORT

Submitted by Zeeshan Ali Khan

HFC Shariah Committee Chairman Maulana Zeesha Ali attended the session “UNDERSTANDING HALAL FOOD REQUIREMENTS IN THE LIGHT OF SHARIAH GUIDELINES & PAKISTAN STANDARD PS 3733” hold by center for Halal Assurance (Pvt. Ltd) on 10th Nov. 2018 at Maisonette Hotel, Lahore in Pakistan.  This session was organized by CeHA Center for Halal Assurance. (CeHA) is a Private Limited Company registered with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). It has its head office in Lahore (Pakistan) and sub offices at various local and international locations. The CeHA runs under its Board of directors and the guidance of its strong Sharia Advisory Board and Sharia Coordinators comprising more than twenty Sharia Experts from across the globe, working with different Islamic Seminaries The company has been established to promote Halal consumption globally by offering the expertise and services of the worldly renown, experienced and competent Sharia Scholars, who aims to provide complete Halal solutions to the industry. We bring in a unique blend of relevant qualification and experience in this field of Sharia and technical areas. CeHA comprehensive research team, consisting of qualified Nutritionists, Food Microbiologists Technologists make us stand apart. 

 “This was a very good learning experience for me and through this session we have some very important contacts in the HALAL industry” concluded by Zeesha Ali. He also introduced HFC to some the organizers and to the participants as well.

Total four sessions were delivered by following speakers:

1.Mufti Suhaib Ashraf (Member of Shariah Board at Center for Halal Assurance CeHA)

2.Mufti Muaz Ashraf (Managing Director and Director Shariah Center for Halal Assurance CeHA)

3.Mufti Muhammad Qasim(Shariah Advisor/Deputy Manager Halal Food Certification Bureau Veritas)

4.Mr. Tariq Qamar(Manager Operations at Bureau Veritas) Bureau Veritas Bureau Veritas is a  global leader in Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC). Bureau Veritas is recognized and accredited by major national and international organizations.

Session # 1 ByMufti Suhaib Ashraf 

Mufti Suhaib covered the following outline: 

i.Importance of Halal in the Light of Quran and Sunnah

ii.Halal industry global perspective (The concept of Halal and haram is not limited to the food or cosmetics. Now halal tourism, halal business, halal finance concepts are emerging as well)

iii.Halal industry terminologies

iv.Islamic Slaughtering

Session # 2 ByMufti Muaz Ashraf

Mufti Muaz covered the following outline:

i.7 Basic prohibitions

ii.Halal and Haram Animals 

iii.Shariah Dietary Law

iv.Critical Ingredients used in medicines and Bakery

v.Critical Halal issues

vi.Shariah Rulings for alcohol and artificial meat and GM Food

ession # 3ByMufti Qasim

Mufti Qasim covered the following outline

PS 3733 standards overview.

Session # 4ByMr. Tariq Qamar

Mr. Tariq covered the following outline by describing the following steps for certification:

i.Top Management (Must be committed)

ii.Pre Requisite Program

iii.Preventive System (From farm to fork)

iv.Risk Assessment

v.Verification (Audit)

vi.Corrective Actions (major non conformity and minor non conformity) 

vii.Free from Fraud

viii.Food Contamination (Partial Halal)

v.Culture (Mr. Tariq Qamar said it is very necessary that whole organization from poen to top management must understand that they are responsible for halal assurance)

Some Important Learning Outcomes:

During the session and during the Breaks HFC Shariah Committee Chairman Zeeshan Ali got a chance to have some discussions with Mufti Muaz, Mufti Qasim and Mufti Suhaib, and got some very important issues as following. 

• In few months Pakistan government is going to seal its borders and no import will be allowed until it follows PS3733-2016 standard. So for Chinese companies want to export Pakistan we may follow PS.

• Just like product Audit its packaging audit is also very important.

• For eggs we must also check that candling eggs are not used. Which contains blood.

As Pakistan is going to seal its border for all the international exporters until they got certified as per PS3733, HFC is considering to offer certification as per PS standards, as we have Shariah experts from Pakistan who are well aware of these standards, so our clients can get maximum benefit from CPEC trade.