The Arabic word Halal means “permitted” and refers to what is lawful under traditional Islamic law. Most often, but not exclusively, it is used in connection with food and beverages, cosmetics, or pharmaceuticals. In food, the term Halal Tayyib is always used, that is, in addition to what has been said above about Halal, it must meet the safety and food quality requirements, and it is only Halal if it is Tayyib.

Halal certification, from an accredited and recognized body, is proof that a certain product, process or facility complies with the Halal standards defined by official regulatory entities. A Halal standard contains the requirements that must be met to achieve Halal status. This makes the product suitable for consumption or use by Muslims who request it.

A Halal certificate confirms that a product complies with Halal standards. Certified products may carry a Halal logo indicating their compliance with Halal requirements. Muslims around the world are looking to buy Halal certified products. Companies interested in expanding their business to Muslim countries markets need an accredited Halal certification.

Halal certification covers all products, services and processes. Most commonly it applies to all food products (finished and intermediate products, ingredients, additives and flavorings), beverages, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals.

Meat products, processed meat products or products with ingredients of animal origin (meat or meat by-products, flavorings, spices, vegetable oils and fats, etc.) always require a Halal batch certificate to guarantee that:

• They come from animals slaughtered according to Halal requirements and under authorized HFQ supervision.
• They are free of any cross contamination.

The information are necessary to decide whether or not the company can be certified by HFQ. In the case that a company can be halal certified, the information will be used to calculate the audit time, the costs and to assign the appropriate audit team.

The HFQ Halal certification process consists of the following stages:

• (1) Application for Halal certification.
• (2) Review of application.
• (3) Preparation of certification contract between HFQ and client.
• (4) Assessment.
• (5) Review of assessment.
• (6) Decision Committee “CD”.
• (7)Issuance of Halal certificate if the decision of the CD is favorable.

It shows the word Halal indicating the conformity of the product or service with Halal requirements and its suitability to be used or consumed. The HFQ logo is a Halal Guarantee Mark registered in the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office “OEPM” of the Ministry of Industry.

Companies certified with HFQ Halal certification shows that the company is aligned with the highest quality standards when exporting to non-muslim countries. In addition, it gives an economical value as it shows that the company is targeting different consumer segment, which means the company has great business objectives and perspectives.  

All audits are performed on-site, except for phase 1 of some scopes which can be done online. On-site audits (documentation + plant visit) is a snapshot of the moment and are only part of the evaluation that also include inspection (verification of audit results) and sampling as well as laboratory analysis (validation of audit + inspection results). In addition, an analysis and screening of the ingredients will be applied to verify the Halal status of the product components.

In addition to on-site evaluation and validation of the process, the presence of authorized HFQ supervisor(s) is essential in slaughterhouses, cutting plants and meat processing plants.

The standards used for the assessment are: GSO 2055-1, GSO 993, GSO 9, SMIIC1, SMIIC24, SMIIC 22, HAS-LPPOM, MS1500, MUIS-SMHS, ISO/IEC 22000, HFQ requirements, among other halal and food safety and quality standards.