Certification of Halal Products

Halal Certification in Ireland

Ireland is well known for its beef and dairy production, and has, for many years been a leading exporter of Halal meat and dairy products to Muslim countries.

The Islamic Foundation of Ireland (IFI) has been acting as the certifying body for Halal meat exported from Ireland to Muslim countries since 1981.

Since the year 2000, an increasing number of Muslim countries and Muslim community organisations in non-Muslim countries have been demanding Halal certification for dairy and other non-meat food products. The Islamic Foundation has been carrying out the certification work for various Irish companies to enable them to export these products to Muslim consumers.

The Islamic Foundation of Ireland (IFI) is officially recognised by the Department of Islamic Development JAKM, Malaysia, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore MUIS and the State of Qatar.

The IFI was recognised by the former Indonesian Halal authority; the Indonesian Council of Ualama or Majlis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) and is currently in the process of getting accreditation and recognition by the new Indonesian Halal authority recognition; the Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency or BPJPH. The IFI is also in the process of getting accreditation by the Halal Accreditation Agency (HAK) of Türkiye. The IFI Halal certificates are accepted in many other countries.

Halal certification is accredited by IFI after an applicant has completed a successful certification cycle in which IFI approves that the producer has followed the guidelines and rules set by the designated scheme to ensure that the products are halal and tayyeb, in this section all information and procedures for companies requiring this service for Muslim consumers and for exports to Muslim countries is found underneath.

The Scope of Certification:

The Islamic Foundation of Ireland certifies products of the following categories:
1. Meat products such as beef, lamb and poultry.
2. Dairy products.
3. Processed meat-based and non-meat food products such as pizzas and sauces.
4. Raw materials.
5. Food ingredients such as vitamins and mineral premixes.
6. Cosmetic and personal care.
7. Pharmaceutical products.

Requirements for certification of meat products:

The company which is desirous of Halal certification by the Islamic Foundation of Ireland for its meat products is required to fill in the Halal certification application form. Upon receipt of the application an on-site audit visit is carried out by two auditors of the Islamic Foundation of Ireland to examine the slaughtering, de-boning and storage facilities of the company and the competence of the Muslim slaughterman. At the end of the audit, a report is prepared by the auditors. If the audit report is approved and the IFI is satisfied that the company is capable of Halal production, the company is informed of the decision. When the company decides to start production, the IFI appoints a supervisor/supervisor who are employed by the IFI to supervise the slaughtering, deboning and storage of the production. A Halal certificate is issued per consignment/shipment

Requirements for certification of dairy and other non-meat-based food products:

The certification is done in accordance with the Halal standards approved by the Halal authorities in the importing Muslim countries. According to this these standards:
1. All food ingredients and additives produced from animals which were not slaughtered according to Islamic rite or from the pig are Haram and not suitable for Halal consumption/use.
2. Any food product, ingredient or additive containing alcohol or produced with the use of alcohol is Haram and unsuitable for Halal consumption or use.

Requirements of Certification of Meat-based Processed Food Products:

The Halal certification requirements are the same as those for dairy and non-meat containing processed food products with the following extra requirements:
i) The IFI Muslim supervisor is to be present whenever there is Halal production.
ii) A Halal certificate is issued per consignment/shipment.

Overall Requirements:

1. Filling in the Halal certification application form. Click here for copy of the certification application form. (Contact the IFI offices for a copy)
2. Filling in the form of raw materials, additives and processing aids. Click here for copy of the form of raw materials, additives and processing aide etc. (Obtainable from the IFI offices)
3. Submitting supporting documents for raw materials, additives and processing aids as follows:
i) Halal certificates from approved certifier (s.)
ii) Technical specification sheets that explain ingredients and source of materials.
iii) Flow processing chart that shows raw materials, additives and processing aids used in each production step.
Click here for information on required materials documents.
4. Pre-audit Assessment: Upon receipt of the application form, the raw materials document and the supporting documents for raw materials, additives and processing aids, a pre-audit assessment of the documentation is carried out. An on-site audit cannot be scheduled if the application documents do not meet a minimum requirement.
5. On-site audit: An on-site audit of all the facilities related to the preparation, production, storage and offices that keep the Halal management documentation is performed by two auditors of the IFI. At the end of the audit, a report is prepared by the auditors. The audit report and accompanying documents are evaluated and revied. When the outcome of the review is positive, a decision is made to grant certification.
6. Issuance of Halal certificate: A Halal certificate is issued for the product which is normally valid for one year (for non-meat-based products.)

Requirements of the Indonesian Halal Product Assurance System
(Sistem Jaminan Produk Halal - SJPH)

The Halal Product Assurance System issued by the government of the Republic of Indonesia under BPJPH (Halal Product Assurance Organising Agency) consists of five basic criteria called arkan al-Halal – or the pillars of Halal. Companie wishing to get their products certified as Halal must meet all requirements. These five basic criteria are:

1. Commitment and Responsibility:

A. Halal Policy

The Halal policy is a written commitment to consistently produce Halal products. It is made and approved by management.
The Halal policy can be combined with other system policies
The Halal policy is disseminated to all stakeholders

B. Halal Management Team

Have a team involved in critical activities consisting of permanent employees
Have written duties and authority
The team has evidence of competence
Proof of team appointment is validated and updated

C. Training

The business shall conduct training and/or capacity building in the field of Halal assurance. Records of the training must be maintained
Have a training procedure, which includes:
a. Frequency - done at least once a year
b. Type of training (external and internal)
c. Participants are all employees involved in critical activities
d. Internal training can be integrated with other system training
e. The trainer is a competent person
f. Material provided during training include 5 criteria of SJPH

Documented evidence of training, training schedule, material provided during training, list of attendees, training evaluation and training certificate

2. Materials

Materials include:

(a) raw materials; (b) additives; (c) processing aid; (d) packaging, lubricants, grease, sanitizer that come into direct contact with the materials or products; (e) Processing aids for cleaning that come into direct contact with production facilities to produce products; and (f) media for validating the results of cleaning facilities that come into direct contact with materials or products.

Materials used must meet the following requirements:

1. Be Halal certified.
2. Materials must not come from certain prohibited sources, such as pigs and their derivatives; blood, carrion, parts of the human body, Khamr (alcoholic beverages), by-products of khamr (alcoholic beverages) obtained only by physical separation.
3. Materials must not be mixed with prohibited or impure materials.
4. Materials must meet the safety and health requirements in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations.
5. Businesses must have supporting documents in the form of Halal certificates for materials that are required to have them.
6. Businesses must have supporting documents in the form of production process flow charts, product composition, certificate of analysis, and other supporting documents.
7. Businesses must ensure the validity of supporting documents, including the validity period, issuing institution.
8. For Halal certificate documents that have been registered with BPJPH and have expired, foreign Halal certificates can still be used as valid supporting documents if the materials were produced during the validity period of the certificate.

3) Halal Product Process:

A. Production Facilities:

The Production facilities include buildings, rooms, machinery and equipment used to produce the products
i) Businesses are required to separate locations, places and equipment for processing Halal products from locations, places and equipment for processing non-Halal products.
ii) Businesses are obliged to maintain cleanliness and hygiene of the production process, ensuring that it is free from uncleanness, and free from non-Halal materials.
iii) Businesses are required to separate places and equipment for Halal and non-Halal products, particularly for slaughtering, processing, storage, packaging, distribution, sales and presentation.
iv) Businesses must separate storage areas for Halal and non-Halal products.
v) Businesses must separate packaging areas for Halal and non-Halal products.
vi) If halal production is carried out in a sharing facility, then all facilities that are in direct contact with ingredients or products must be pork free.
vii) Chiller/refrigerator and freezer used to store materials from body parts of slaughtered animals be Halal dedicated
viii) For the sharing facility the company must ensure that the facility is cleaned prior to use for production of halal certified products.

B) Written Procedures for Critical Activities:

Critical activities are activities that can affect the halal status of the product. Generally, critical activities include:
i) use of new materials for products that have been certified,
ii) product formulation and development.
iii) incoming material check,
iv) production,
v) washing production facilities,
vi) storage of materials and products,
vii) transportation of materials and products.

The scope of critical activities can vary according to the company’s business process. Written procedures can be in the form of SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), work instructions or other forms of work guidelines. This written procedure can be combined with other system procedures implemented by the company.

C) Handling Of Non-Conformance Product

The company must have a written procedure for handling products that do not meet the criteria which ensures the products that do not meet halal criteria are not reprocessed or downgraded and must be destroyed or not sold to consumers who need halal products. If the product has already been sold, the product must be recalled.

4. Product

A) Product:

Products can be retail or non-retail, final or intermediate products. Guidelines for product naming can be found here. The characteristics / sensory profile of the product must not have a tendency to smell or taste that leads to haram products. The product shape, packaging, and label must not contain erotic, vulgar or pornographic characteristics. Especially for retail products, if a product has a certain brand, all variants or other products with the same brand that are marketed in Indonesia must be registered.

B) Traceability

The company must have a written procedure that ensures the traceability of a certified product can trace the product to originating from approved materials and produced in a facility that meets the facility criteria.

5) Monitoring & Evaluation

A) Internal Audit

The company must have a written procedure for internal audit of the Halal Product Assurance System implementation. Internal audits must be conducted at least twice a year. If a weakness is found (the criteria are not met) in an internal audit, the company must identify the root cause and make improvements. Improvements must be made with a clear target date and must be able to resolve weaknesses and prevent their recurrence in the future.

B) Management Review

The company must have a written management review procedure. Management review must be carried out at least once a year.

For more information and application forms download the following:

Procedure for Halal Certification, click here:

For requirements specific to the Indonesian Halal Product Assurance System, click here:

Material Document for Halal Certification, click here:

Application form for Halal certification, click here:

Form for list of materials, additives and processing aids, click here:

For complaint procedure and application, get the form here:

For further inquiries Contact the IFI offices.