ABU DHABI // Dubai is in the process of creating a halal-accreditation body and a food-testing laboratory to ensure that all food products entering the emirate are in fact halal.
Asad Sajjad, secretary general of the Halal Development Council, said there was still a need for a unified local and regional certification body because different standards around the world had led to confusion among consumers and authorities.
“One of the problems we have in the world is the same problem happening here, which is thinking like we are the centre of the halal world,” Mr Sajjad said at the SIAL food conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. “Big players like Turkey, Malaysia, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE should help to harmonise these standards.”
He said too many countries were using their own set of standards, which was an obstacle to trade.
“The turnover of the global halal market is between two and a half to three trillion dollars a year,” Mr Sajjad said. “Yet we have difficulties and standards are important for trade, because they help in compatibility, they simplify the product development and the speed of time to market.”
He said unified standards would also make it easier to understand and compare competing products.
“The production and distribution of food has become international. There are many emerging issues that were not known at the early time of Muslim scholars. Now, ingredients, packaging and [consumption] are global and sourced in different locations so producers, suppliers and retailers should understand halal processing requirements, international laws and Islamic legitimacy constraints to produce halal products.”
With more than 300 halal certification bodies in about 48 countries, confusion among consumers and authorities has increased.
“Multiple halal standards exist in the world,” Mr Sajjad said. “Every country has its own standards and, even within a country, there are different certification bodies that have their own standards, except in countries where halal standards are drawn by the government, as it is in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.”
The UAE has several different certification bodies, such as the Dubai Accreditation Centre and the Emirates National Accreditation System, created by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology.
So far, none has the sole responsibility for halal certification.
“This isn’t helping halal to become harmonised,” Mr Sajjad said. “Let’s not forget there are other emirates, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi – what about them? There should be an Emirates accreditation centre to better help the halal situation. It’s at an infancy stage, nobody knows what is halal as such.”
He said the council was lobbying for the finalisation of a halal trade agreement among OIC member countries.
“Halal-certified products should be universal, especially as the Islamic consumer market is the fastest growing in the world,” Mr Sajjad said. “The global demand for halal food is increasing but different standards are the biggest barriers. We need a common platform and the OIC-Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries has taken the stand and the lead to have one set of halal standards in the world.
“There should be one halal logo and one test, because if it’s done in this country and it is exported to a neighbouring country, it should not be retested,” he said. “The UAE is the chair of the halal food technical committee of the OIC standards, so it’s even more important for the UAE to work towards harmonisation.
“If there’s confusion here, everyone else will be confused so it has to be clarified and the government should concentrate more and invest more in creating awareness among the local manufacturers, exporters, importers and local population about traceability.”
cmalek@thenational.ae
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
EXPATS
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Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
THREE
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New schools in Dubai
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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The specs
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