A cooperation agreement was signed between the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) and the Halal Accreditation Agency (HAK) with the aim of strengthening our country's halal quality infrastructure, raising awareness of this issue in the business world and enabling our country to take a larger share of the world market for halal certified products and services.
MÜSİAD, which continues its work with the ideal of our country's development and of becoming a country that is effective in its region and respected on a global scale, continues to cooperate with Türkiye's leading institutions.
In this context, most recently, the signing ceremony of the agreement concluded between MÜSİAD and the Halal Accreditation Agency (HAK) with the aim of strengthening our country's halal quality infrastructure, raising awareness of this issue in the business world and enabling our country to take a larger share of the world market for halal certified products and services was attended by MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan, HAK President Zafer Soylu, Chairman of the MÜSİAD Food Safety and Innovation in Competition Planning Committee İsa Albayrak, Chairman of the MÜSİAD Digital Transformation Committee Fahrettin Oylum, Chairman of the MÜSİAD New Tourism Resources and Investments Committee Muhammet Ali Özeken and Chairman of the MÜSİAD Economic Security and Regulation Committee Osman Çalışkan.
Within the scope of the agreement, it is aimed to exchange information between the institutions in the fields of halal food infrastructure and halal certified trade, to organize joint training programmes, seminars and workshops so that the issue of halal food gains respect in the eyes of society, and to raise awareness at home and abroad on issues such as halal certification and halal certified trade.
The Halal Accreditation Agency stands out as the only institution providing halal accreditation services in Türkiye, having been established to operate in the field of halal accreditation at home and abroad, to represent our country in halal accreditation work on international platforms and to lead the work carried out.
“Sensitivity About Halal Production and Consumption in the Islamic World Has Declined”
MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan, who shared his assessments after the agreement, pointed out the importance of halal production and consumption. Emphasizing that as MÜSİAD they approach the issue of halal consumption with sensitivity, Kaan said, “Unfortunately, in the Islamic world we have lost our sensitivity about halal consumption. The level of awareness among Muslims regarding halal production and consumption is unfortunately quite low. As MÜSİAD, we continue to carry out our work with the principle of member-country-ummah in order to raise awareness on this issue. On this subject, in recent months we also signed a cooperation agreement with the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC). Today, with the agreement we have signed with the Halal Accreditation Agency, we plan to move on to a further stage. With organizations such as seminars, conferences and training programmes that we will carry out jointly with HAK, we aim to raise awareness on halal accreditation. With the work we will carry out through our domestic and international branches, we will also continue our activities regarding the accreditation of our members operating there.”
“The Pandemic Made Us Comprehend the Understanding of Living Within the Halal Sphere”
Kaan, who also shared his assessments about the Coronavirus pandemic that was first seen in China and took the whole world under its influence in a short time, said, “There are serious claims that the pandemic that emerged in China was unfortunately transmitted from wild animals. At this point, as Türkiye we are unfortunately a country that feels the economic as well as the sociological effects of the pandemic in a serious sense. In this situation, we comprehend more closely the importance of the understanding of eating, drinking, cleanliness and living within the halal sphere that Islam commands. In this context, the agreement we have made with the Halal Accreditation Agency gains importance once again.”
The Agreement We Have Made With MÜSİAD Will Be a Step at the Global Level
HAK Chairman of the Board of Directors Zafer Soylu, for his part, emphasized the need for supervision in the halal sector. Soylu said, “In today's world, creating standards is as important as producing the product itself. The precondition for creating standards is to be a country that is advanced in the field of quality infrastructure. Through the customs union it has established with the European Union, our country is an economy that is open to the world and has an advanced quality infrastructure. It is precisely for this reason that Türkiye has become the first country in the Muslim world able to carry out accreditation in accordance with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation/SMIIC standards. In this respect, we attach importance to the said cooperation protocol concluded with MÜSİAD, and we believe that it is an important step towards the goal of establishing a reliable supervision/accreditation mechanism in the field of halal certification at the global level.”