The report of the most important issues raised in the meeting of the specialized working group of the Government-Private Sector Dialogue Council regarding the ambiguity of food product producing units in the field of the official issuing authority and the process of obtaining a halal license dated
First, after introducing the audience, Mr. Mohajeri, the consultant of the dialogue council secretariat, gave a detailed description of the process of granting the halal seal by the Food and Drug Organization, the National Standards Organization of Iran, the World Halal Institute (ICRIC) affiliated to the Iran Chamber, and the Veterinary Organization of the country, which It has caused confusion for the production units and many problems for the export of the country’s food industry products. Then, Mr. Bigi, the head of the Arak chamber, who was present in the meeting online, considered the entry of the Food and Drug Organization into the topic of granting the halal seal, especially in the case of raw animal products, unjustifiable, because the veterinary organization has long been involved in the issue of halal products. Raw livestock has been involved. Mr. Jafari, the head of the Food Industry Association of East Azarbaijan Province and a member of the Food Industry Commission of the Iran Chamber, also pointed out the many problems faced by producers due to the number of centers involved in granting the halal seal, and emphasized that the halal seal should only be issued by one institution. be made Mr. Shah Vaisi, the head of the Standards and Sustainable Development Commission of the Iran Chamber, emphasized on obeying the law, and considered the National Standard Organization as the only legal authority for granting the halal mark and pointed out that it seems that in the field of export, the halal mark of the National Standard Organization is still at the international level. It has not been accepted that a solution should be thought of in this case. In the following, I mentioned the multiplicity of decision-making centers in different areas of the food industry, one of the major challenges of this sector, so that different institutions consider themselves as the guardians of the food industry, and have the right to exercise their opinion according to the provisions of the law. And this has caused the disintegration of the decision-making system and the indecision and confusion of the activists in this area, and the issue of granting the halal seal is only one of the clear examples of this great shortcoming. Therefore, the first specific proposal of the Food Industry Commission of the Chamber of Iran is to form a “food organization” under the presidential institution, which will have full authority and consolidate and utilize all the capacities in the current institutions, including human resources, equipment, tools and facilities, in the form of focus on the macro and micro issues of the strategic field of the country’s food industry. In the country, only one organization should be in charge of the quality, safety and health of food, and until this is not done, we will always witness the conflict of interests and the conflict of the existing institutions and the disruption of the activities of the private sector in this field. Regarding the halal seal, according to note two of article seven of the Law on Strengthening and Development of the Standard System, the National Organization of Standards of Iran has been designated as the only official authority for granting the halal seal, and certainly the chapter of our speech is the law; However, in the Shariah Hunting and Slaughter Law, missions have been assigned to the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture and the Veterinary Organization of the country in the matter of halal. Also, according to some high-handed laws, the government should be reduced and leave non-governmental affairs to the private sector. Now that in the matter of halal, Icric Institute affiliated with the Iran Chamber has succeeded in gaining international credit with a history of fifteen years and has been recognized by all export target countries, while respecting the law, a solution should be found to through mechanisms and procedures Existing in the national standard organization, including the certifying bodies, the conformity assessment body and the national certification center, it is possible to take advantage of the appropriate capacity of Icric Institute for the development of food industry exports.The representative of the Shiraz chamber also emphasized online the need for a single authority to grant the halal certificate, preferably from the private sector. In the following, Mr. Ebrahimi, the International Vice President of the National Standard Organization, stated that the National Standard Organization of Iran is a member of SMIC and SMIC is in charge of Halal discussion in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Also, the National Standard Organization is a member of the Halal Mark Exporters Association in the world, and during meetings with the Malaysian standard authorities, it was decided that the two countries would grant a joint Halal mark.
Unfortunately, the Food and Drug Organization has claimed during correspondence with food industry producers that the only halal certificate of the Food and Drug Organization is accepted in the world and all producers are required to obtain this certificate. Following this correspondence, a letter was sent by the National Standards Organization of Iran to food industry producers that according to the law, the halal mark should be obtained only through the National Standards Organization of Iran and we will follow this issue seriously. In the matter of delegating the management affairs, the National Organization of Standards of Iran is ready to delegate the supervision of the implementation and the tests and reviews to the certified companies. In the last three months of 1401, the National Standard Organization has issued more than seven hundred halal badges, and for 1402, it is targeted to issue ten thousand halal badges. Ms. Piravi Venk, the general manager of the supervision of the implementation of the standard, gave an explanation about the relationship between Halit and product health, and stated that safety, authenticity and Halit are discussed in the product quality review, but there is no direct relationship between food safety and Halit. Also, based on the approvals of the 115th meeting of the Supreme Council of Standards, the new marking instructions have been sent to the production units, and until the end of this year, it is possible to use packaging materials with previous markings.
Mr. Rostgar, head of the Halal Research Center of the Food and Drug Organization, expressed that the inherent duties of institutions should be recognized. The Food and Drug Organization is in charge of food safety in the country, and one of the indicators of food safety is its solubility, and based on our inherent duty, we issue certificates and approvals of the solubility of food products upon the request of the applicant, and the issuance of this certificate is a violation of It does not have the halal mark of the National Organization of Iranian Standards. They noted that due to the differences between the institutions, the proposal to form a food organization is proposed, and the formation of this organization can increase the parallelism of the existing works! Mr. Hahaderi, the legal director of the Food and Drug Organization, insisted that there is no parallel work between the Food and Drug Organization and the National Standards Organization of Iran in the matter of halal, and the approval of food solubility as one of the indicators of food safety issued by the Food and Drug Organization It seems that it has nothing to do with Halal. He also assessed the discussion of the formation of the Food Organization as deviation and expressed that the first vice president is against this matter. Mr. Karbasi, CEO of the Global Halal Institute (ICRIC) stated that the Islamic Chamber Research and Information Center is Iran’s only member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The management of this center is entrusted to Iran, and the head of the Iranian Chamber is the head of this center in any term, and its board of directors includes the head of the Egyptian Chamber, the head of the Malaysian Chamber, the head of the Jordanian Chamber and the Secretary General of the Islamic Chamber. The halal project under this center started in 1386, when none of the government agencies understood the necessity of the halal issue. Malaysia was the leader of this issue. Based on paragraph 135 of the statement of the 112th meeting of heads of Islamic countries in 1386 in Senegal, the issue of issuing a halal certificate was assigned to the chambers of commerce of Islamic countries, and it was decided to create a working group to prepare a fixed procedure and standard. For this purpose, the Global Halal Institute (ICRIC) was established under the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, and as a result of the activity of this institute, the OIC halal standard was approved with 98% compliance with Jafari jurisprudence. At the proposal of the Iran Chamber for Governance Coordination, a policy-making council was formed with the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, the Ministry of Health, the National Standards Organization of Iran and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Currently, we are witnessing a 69 billion dollar deficit in the trade balance of Islamic countries, which in the roadmap drawn by the Iran Chamber, Iran was supposed to cover one percent of the said deficit annually, which not only has not been achieved, but also witnessed a decrease in the export of food industry products. We are a country. The foreign parties of the exporting companies are applying for the halal certificate of Ekrik, and accordingly, we issue the halal certificate and mark. The Food and Drug Organization, Iran’s National Standards Organization, the country’s Veterinary Organization and Icric Institute should work together and with convergence to increase the share of the country’s food industry exports. Mr. Eskandari, the director of the dialogue council’s secretariat and the chairman of the meeting, stated that according to the clear statement of the leadership, wherever the private sector has tenure, the public sector has no right to enter. It seems that the government has interfered with the activities of the private sector in the issue of the halal mark. The philosophy of issuing the halal mark is for export. In the international system, the chambers of commerce issuing the halal mark are known.A private sector, based on all the requirements and licenses of the country’s executive bodies and on the basis of international licenses, issues a halal certificate to another private sector, which is a matter of management, not sovereignty, and the entry of the government sector in this matter is an example of disrupting the sector’s activity. It is private. The correspondence of the National Standard Organization for the issue of the halal mark, which is an incentive, should not be accompanied by coercive treatment and threats to collect products and designs in the Article 42 Commission. Mr. Salari, the representative of the Legal Vice President, stated that the implementation of the halal standard is optional and nothing non-halal is produced in the Islamic country. It is decided that the Ministry of Health should provide a list of cases that need to be resolved, but not issue an address in this regard. The relevant policymaking council should be activated in this case and there should be no disruption in the production process. Mr. Melabi, a representative of the General Inspection Organization of the country, said that the principle is to facilitate the processes for issuing business licenses. Sometimes, partial letters have been issued by both the Food and Drug Organization and the National Standard Organization, which has caused confusion for producers. You can follow up to solve this problem through the deregulation board. You can also write to the head of the General Inspection Organization of the country so that the inspection organization will enter into this issue and, according to the usual procedure, give an opinion that this opinion will definitely be correct. In this meeting, representatives from the National Business Center of the Ministry of Economy, the Majlis Research Center and the Chamber of Trades of Iran were present and presented their opinions. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Eskandari summarized the results of the meeting as follows: – The National Standard Organization is requested to refrain from coercive measures in this regard until the issue is raised in the dialogue council. – The Deregulation Board will enter into this issue and correct the processes and determine the cooperation arrangements of the four institutions related to the issue. – The policy-making council related to the halal issue should be activated and regular meetings of this council and relevant committees should be held. They also expressed their hope that within the next month, the aforementioned measures will be implemented and the solution of this problem will be presented as an achievement in the government-private dialogue council with the presence of the ministers and the head of the National Standard Organization of Iran.You can also write to the head of the General Inspection Organization of the country so that the inspection organization will enter into this issue and, according to the usual procedure, give an opinion that this opinion will definitely be correct. In this meeting, representatives from the National Business Center of the Ministry of Economy, the Majlis Research Center and the Chamber of Trades of Iran were present and presented their opinions. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Eskandari summarized the results of the meeting as follows: – The National Standard Organization is requested to refrain from coercive measures in this regard until the issue is raised in the dialogue council. – The Deregulation Board will enter into this issue and correct the processes and determine the cooperation arrangements of the four institutions related to the issue. – The policy-making council related to the halal issue should be activated and regular meetings of this council and relevant committees should be held. They also expressed their hope that within the next month, the aforementioned measures will be implemented and the solution of this problem will be presented as an achievement in the government-private dialogue council with the presence of the ministers and the head of the National Standard Organization of Iran.You can also write to the head of the General Inspection Organization of the country so that the inspection organization will enter into this issue and, according to the usual procedure, give an opinion that this opinion will definitely be correct. In this meeting, representatives from the National Business Center of the Ministry of Economy, the Majlis Research Center and the Chamber of Trades of Iran were present and presented their opinions. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Eskandari summarized the results of the meeting as follows: – The National Standard Organization is requested to refrain from coercive measures in this regard until the issue is raised in the dialogue council. – The Deregulation Board will enter into this issue and correct the processes and determine the cooperation arrangements of the four institutions related to the issue. – The policy-making council related to the halal issue should be activated and regular meetings of this council and relevant committees should be held. They also expressed their hope that within the next month, the aforementioned measures will be implemented and the solution of this problem will be presented as an achievement in the government-private dialogue council with the presence of the ministers and the head of the National Standard Organization of Iran.
