Food intended for export is exempt from the ban. (Representative)
Lucknow:
The Uttar Pradesh government today banned products bearing halal labels. The state government announced that the production, storage, distribution and sale of food with halal certification will be banned with immediate effect. However, products manufactured for export are not subject to the restrictions.
“Strict legal action will be taken against any individual or company manufacturing, storing, distributing, buying and selling halal certified medicines, medical devices and cosmetics in Uttar Pradesh,” an official order said.
Halal certification of food is a parallel system that creates confusion regarding the quality of food and is untenable under Section 89 of the Food Law Food Safety and Standards Act, the order said. “The right to decide on the quality of food rests solely with the authorities and institutions specified in Section 29 of the said Act, which review the relevant standards in accordance with the provisions of the Act,” it added.
It said that certain medicines, medical devices and cosmetic products reportedly carry the Halal certificate on their packaging or labeling, although “there are no provisions in the government regulations for medicines, medical devices and cosmetics to mark Halal certification on labels.” . Halal certification is also not mentioned in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940 and its associated regulations.
The move comes after a police case was filed against a company and some other organizations for allegedly “exploiting people’s religious sentiments” to increase sales by providing “fake” halal certificates.
The case was filed against companies such as Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra and others for allegedly exploiting religious sentiments to increase sales by providing halal certificates to one’s customers certain religion, the UP government said in a statement.
The complainant raised concerns about a large-scale conspiracy and pointed to attempts to allegedly restrict the sale of products from companies without a halal certificate, which was illegal, the UP government said.
The statement said that these companies allegedly issued fake halal certificates to various companies for financial gain, which not only fueled social hostility but also violated public trust.
The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust called the allegations “baseless” in a statement and said it would “take necessary legal action to counter such misinformation.”
Halal certification will be mentioned on the labels of certain food products such as dairy products, sugar bakery products, peppermint oil, salty ready meals and cooking oils, etc., the Food Commissioner’s Office said.
Halal certification is a guarantee that the food is prepared according to Islamic law and is unadulterated. If a product contains animals or animal by-products that are prohibited by law, it cannot receive Halal certification.
Specifically, Halal foods are those that are produced, manufactured, processed and stored using machinery, equipment and/or utensils that have been purified in accordance with Islamic law and are free of components that are prohibited for Muslims to consume.