- By Unzila Sheikh
- Sun, 19 Nov 2023 09:41 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday announced a ban on products with halal tags. The government has also forbidden the production, storage, distribution and sale of Halal-certified food products. However, products manufactured for export will not face these restrictions.
“Strict legal measures will be implemented against any individual or firm engaged in the production, storage, distribution, buying, and selling of Halal-certified medicines, medical devices, and cosmetics within Uttar Pradesh," said an official order.
Calling the Halal certification, a parallel system, causing confusion regarding the food quality of items, the order said that it is 'not tenable' under Section 89 of the Food Law Food Safety and Standards Act.
"The right to decide the quality of food items lies only with the authorities and institutions given in Section 29 of the said Act, who check the relevant standards as per the provisions of the Act", it added.
The order further said that few medicines, medical devices, and cosmetic products reportedly carry the Halal certification on their packaging and labelling while there are no provisions for featuring Halal certification on labels in the government rules regarding drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics nor does the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and rules related to it, make any mention of Halal certification.
This came after an FIR was registered yesterday against a company and several organisations for allegedly providing forged Halal certificates to boost sales and hurting the religious sentiments of people.
A case was registered under sections 120 b/ 153A/ 298/ 384 /420 /467/ 468 /471/ 505 of the IndianPenal Code against Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra and others for allegedly providing forged halal certificates to customers of a specific religion and exploiting religious sentiments.
The complainant alleged that this was a conspiracy to reduce the sale of products from companies without the Halal certificate which is not legal, the UP government said.
Refuting the allegations, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust, in a statement, called these accusations "baseless" and said it will take "necessary legal measures to counter such misinformation".
What Is Halal Certification?
Halal certification provides a guarantee to the consumer that the food is prepared according to Islamic law. Products containing animals or byproducts which are considered Haram or prohibited under the law cannot receive this certification.
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Halal foods are made, produced, manufactured and stored in utensils that are cleaned according to Islamic law and are free from any 'Haram' products that Muslims are prohibited from eating.