DUBAI, 7th September, 2020 (WAM) -- The International Halal Accreditation Forum, IHAF, an independent, non-government network of accreditation bodies that harmonises accreditation practices in halal, has led the conversation on how to resolve the challenges faced by the halal trade industry today.
In the recently concluded webinar titled, "The Future Perspectives of The Halal Industry", which was organised by the IHAF, industry leaders discussed how the traditional business models of on-site assessment had become severely restricted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also tackled how digital transformation, such as the move to remote assessment, can ensure safety and quality in the future.
According to them, conformity assessment enables producers to demonstrate that their halal products meet the relevant specification and safety standards.
In the light of the pandemic, which saw the reduction of staffing levels, modification of working practises and disruption supply chains, accreditation bodies had to immediately make a significant shift from on-site to remote assessments and audits of halal products and systems.
Underscoring the importance of digital transformation in enabling virtual assessments, Dr Rehab Faraj Al Ameri, Secretary-General of IHAF, said, "It is the IHAF’s objective to harmonise halal accreditation and conformity assessment practices and procedures, which will inadvertently facilitate and ease international trade in the field of halal."
The restrictions brought about by the pandemic has impacted major halal producers and accreditation bodies, ABs, certifying bodies, CB, and conformity assessment bodies, CAB. Earlier, assessments and audits used to be done on-site, with the assessor or auditor personally inspecting the products to evaluate their authenticity.
Muhammad Sabir Hussain, Lead and Technical Assessor and Accreditation Specialist at Emirates National Accreditation System, asked, "Is the risk of not doing an assessment less than doing an assessment using remote auditing techniques? We believe that not doing assessments puts halal products at the risk of fraud and potential liability due to extending certification without oversight."
"While the demand for halal products has been increasing during the pandemic because consumers prefer safe quality, halal certification bodies continue to face the challenge on how to do remote audits and halal accreditation," said Aldin Dugonjić, CEO of Croatia’s Centre for Halal Quality Certification.
Mufti Zeeshan Abdul Aziz, CEO of International Halal Certification (Pvt) Ltd, said it was challenging to convince food producers to submit their requirements online, mostly due to the company’s confidentiality policies such as not allowing cameras or video recording inside their sites, he noted.
He added that certification bodies found it challenging to assess slaughterhouses remotely because of the complexity of their processes.
According to Reinaldo Figueiredo, Senior Programme Director of Product, Process, and Services Accreditation Programme at American National Standards Institute, ANSI - National Accreditation Board, many certification and assessment bodies are not equipped with the necessary tools to help them prepare for digital transformation.
Besides, there is a lack of clear information from some of the scheme owners (or entities responsible for developing and maintaining a certification scheme) which translates to confusion among accreditation and certification players.
"We are very pleased that IHAF was able to gather together a group of experts across the halal ecosystem from ABs, CABs, to certifying bodies in one event," Al Ameri said.
As the first international accreditation entity in the UAE, IHAF aims to facilitate international halal trade through harmonising global halal standards. It currently has 38 accreditation body-members from 35 countries across six continents.