São Paulo – The Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Companies (Abiec) is developing a project to standardize halal certification in the country. The purpose is to increase the process’ transparency, showing importers the rules followed during cattle slaughtering process in Brazil.
The term “halal” means “allowed” and shows that the animal was slaughtered according to Islamic tradition. Certification is a requirement for Muslim countries to import. In Brazil, the attestation is issued by different certifiers.
“We want to give a clear idea of what Brazilian halal meat is, what is required from slaughterers, what is required from the process itself,” said the Abiec CEO Fernando Sampaio this Thursday (12th) at a meeting with a delegation of Middle Eastern food importers organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex).
According to Sampaio, the requirements for halal certification vary from country to country. He said Abiec will consult religious authorities in different countries in order to set the Brazilian halal standard. The project should be completed in September this year.
“Once clients receive the meat bearing the Brazilian halal stamp, they will be able to go online and get the exact description of the process and how it took place, so they get a guarantee that he is getting what he wanted,” he said.
Regarding sales in the Middle East, Sampaio explains that countries which were formerly crisis-ridden are now resuming their purchases. “Some countries are stabilizing themselves. Libya, for instance, is buying more than it did with Gaddafi, and Egypt is back to buying large volumes,” he said. He adds that promotional actions such as workshops are being considered, in markets such as Egypt.
Poultry
Arab countries’ poultry imports remain bullish as well, according to Ricardo Santin, the Markets director at the Brazilian Poultry Union (Ubabef), who also attended the meeting. “The Arabs are our main clients. During the stabilization period following the Arab Spring, we sensed a resumption of sales in countries such as Egypt, whose imports are bouncing back, Iraq is back to buying, and Libya which did not buy from Brazil, imported 30,000 tonnes in the first half, so it’s a good surprise,” he said.
From January to June this year, Brazil exported 1.987 million tonnes of poultry. According to Santin, 36% of that volume went to Arab countries.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
