Pakistan Halal Food Authority Stays Non-Functional

Pakistan Halal Food Authority (PHFA) has been dysfunctional since its formation. The authority was created after the Senate Standing Committee on Ministry of Science and Technology passed a bill to establish it around 2 years ago.

Ironically, the bill to establish a Halal Food Authority was moved by the Ministry of Science of Technology instead of the Ministry of Religious Affairs as is the usual case.

The government had been deliberating on this bill since 2011 and it was only passed in 2015.

Even after its formation some two years ago, it has yet to discharge its responsibilities in a befitting manner.

The Authority’s Purpose

PHFA’s main purpose was to promote and enhance trade and commerce of Halal food products and to gain share in the international Halal food market. Another purpose of the authority was to prevent the import of Haram food products into Paksitan.

According to Khalid Siddiqui from Ministry of Science and Technology, 85% of Halal food items are exported to Muslim countries by non-Muslim ones.

An estimated $3-4 billion of Halal products are imported to Pakistan from Europe, America and East Asian countries among others.

Food Products With Haram Ingredients

Some of the food items imported in Paksitan contain Haram ingredients. The Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Mian Ijaz, shared a list of 19 such products, stressing upon the need of a Halal Food Authority to check these items.

Unfortunately the authority hasn’t been functional since its establishment so there is no way to check if more food items imported in Pakistan contain Haram ingredients or not.

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