ISTANBUL – Turkish Economy Minister announced on Thursday his government’s plans to open the first global halal accreditation agency to reinforce unified standards for 1.8 billion Muslims.
“The demands of a global Muslim population of 1.8 billion for halal products and their certification is incrementally increasing,” Nihat Zeybekci told the World Halal Summit Istanbul, Anadolu Agency reported.
Planning its inauguration later this year, the Turkish government will aim to service the $3.9 trillion global market for halal products.
The minister said that Muslim nations alone would not be able to satisfy the huge demand for halal products, adding that Turkey is capable of providing halal accreditation for the Muslim world.
Halal accreditation agencies enforce standards, protect halal consumers and boost international trade.
“All of the tasks of determining standards, setting up assessment and evaluation systems and certifying procedures for halal products should be done by Muslim countries,” he added.
The World Halal Summit and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Halal Expo began Thursday.
The concept of halal –meaning “permissible” in Arabic– has traditionally been applied to food.
Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered with a sharp knife across the jugular vein, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.