The International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF), the world’s pioneering halal accreditation platform, discussed the halal trade facilitation, growth &cooperation strategy, innovations and market trends at the 7th Board of Directors (BOD) meeting in Dubai, UAE.

 

During the meeting, the board re-elected Emirates National Accreditation System (ENAS) represented by Mohammed Ahmed Bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi for Chairmanship post and elected Saud Al Askar as the new IHAF Vice-chair for the term 2019 to 2022.

 

“I am truly honoured that UAE was re-elected as the Board of Directors Chair. The commitment of the Forum is to unify accreditation practices of global halal standards to ease halal trade and to enhance mutual recognition of halal certificate between all member countries,” said Al Shehhi.

 

The Secretary-General of IHAF, Dr Rehab Al Ameri congratulated the new IHAF Chair and Vice-Chair for their association with IHAF. She said: “The objective of IHAF is to boost the growth of halal trade not only in the Islamic nations but globally. We believe that under the directives of the board and participation from the member bodies, IHAF initiatives and ambitions will be acknowledged worldwide.”

 

During the meeting, the BOD reviewed new membership applications, and approved the Affiliate Member of the Department of Accreditation ‐ Cambodian Accreditation National Council (DA‐CANC) –Cambodia and upgraded National Center for Accreditation (NCA) ‐ Kazakhstan with Full Membership.

 

The Secretary-General of IHAF said: “I would like to welcome our new member country ‘Cambodia’ and happy to add NCA from ‘Kazakhstan’ to full membership category. This increasing new memberships prove IHAF’s successful contribution to the halal trade. We also look forward to communicating with other Islamic and non-Islamic countries as well as look forward to closely working with our peer organisations to accelerate the halal trade globally.”

 

The IHAF Secretary-General also discussed the cooperative strategies with International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), International Accreditation Forum (IAF), The Standards and

Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries (SMIIC), The Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organisation (AIDMO) as well as recommendations put forth by the Multi-lateral Recognition Arrangement Committee (MRAC), Technical Affairs Committee (TAC), and Marketing and Media Committee (MMC).

 

The BOD also congratulated the newly elected committee members - Nora Moudine-Schweninger from ANSI-ANAB as the Vice-Chair of TAC, Tarek Zouari from SAC as the TAC secretary and Reem Barhoumeh from ENAS was elected as the Vice Chair of the MRAC.

 

Dr. Al Ameri also highlighted the latest statistics of Muslim expenditure that is increasing, and Muslims spent $2.2 trillion in 2018 and is forecasted to reach US$3.2 trillion by 2024 at a Cumulative Annual Growth Rate (“CAGR”) of 6.2 per cent as recorded by the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2019/20.

 

The 7th Board of Directors (BOD) meeting covered discussions on the growth report of IHAF. It also tackled IHAF Strategy for 2020 to 2024, as well achievement reports from its internal committees.

 

IHAF has also set the next assembly for the BOD and committees in conjunction with ILAC-IAF 2020 meetings in Montreal, Canada.

 

As part of its commitment, to enhance the international trade in the field of halal, IHAF undertakes initiatives to ease the flow of halal products between countries as well as helps streamline the

accreditation and certification processes between its members. “The Forum also assures governments and regulatory entities that the halal products of its members need no further testing or verification—promoting accessibility to global markets for halal-related companies,” Dr Al Ameri further added. -- Tradearabia News Service