São Paulo – Saudi Arabia is planning to launch the world’s largest center for halal food and products, according to a news report published online this Wednesday (25) by Gulf Business. The announcement was made by the Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA).
It aims to turn the place into a worldwide standard for halal food and products, plus halal services and certification. The idea is for the center to also conduct research in the area in partnerships with universities and research centers.
SFDA’s executive president, Hisham bin Saad Al Jedaie, said that the center is part of the country’s reforms program Vision 2030 and will be get a boost by the Arab country’s good geographical position and its role as the birthplace of the Islamic religion.
SDFA wants the center to set a standard worldwide and strengthen the halal system via a supervision system and the use of highly trained human resources. Its purpose would be to maintain the halal practice up-to-date with the development of the food industry.
According to the Gulf Business, as soon as it’s established, the center should become the government body responsible to issue halal certificates and stamps to products and facilities, to training programs and accreditation of other halal certification organizations. The center would also be responsible to gather local and international logistics service providers that work with halal products and services.
The costs of the project and the opening date haven’t been announced yet.
A report by the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre and Thomson Reuters shows that spending by Muslims worldwide with food and beverages reaches USD 1.2 trillion per year and that it should surpass USD 1.93 trillion until 2020.
The consumption of pharmaceuticals will go from USD 83 billion to USD 132 billion, with cosmetics going from USD 57.4 billion to USD 82 billion in the same comparison. According to the report, Malaysia is the world’s largest halal food market.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
