Over the past two years, plant-based food consumption has grown by 49% across the EU, reaching a total sales volume of €3.6 billion.
Muslim countries may soon require halal certification
2025-05-15
The Middle Eastern country reportedly plans to require incoming products to be labeled as "halal" or "non-halal."
Export Management Bureau (EMB) director Senen Perlada told a press conference that Filipino companies exporting to these Muslim countries would gain an advantage if they could have their goods and services certified as halal.
“Some Muslim countries plan to have exporters declare whether their products are halal or non-halal, and based on that, they can have a basis for deciding whether to allow certain products to enter,” Senen Perlada said. “For the Philippines, the most important thing is to have stronger halal certification and regulation.”
Senen Perlada mentioned that halal certification abroad is very complicated. For example, Philippine exporters to Muslim countries should obtain halal certification from a certification body accredited by the Philippine Certification Bureau (PAB), which is also recognized by the accreditation body in that particular Muslim country.
In line with this, PAB and the United Arab Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (UAE-ESMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate halal certification for Philippine exporters to the UAE. According to the MOU, halal certification bodies that are accredited by PAB will automatically be recognized in the UAE.
Abdulla Abdelqader Al Maeeni, Director General of UAE-ESMA, noted that the MoU with PAB also reduces technical barriers for Philippine exporters targeting the UAE market.
Abdulla Abdelqader Al Maeeni said: "It will not have any major hurdles. It will not be retested, there will be no additional certifications, and the UAE's halal certification program is becoming international."
This means that the UAE-ESMA certification is also recognized in other countries, and those "halal" certified products can enter several markets in the region. In fact, the cost of exporting to these Muslim countries will be reduced.
“Before, they paid for several certificates, now they pay for just one,” the UAE-ESMA official noted.
Senen Perlada said that through the partnership with the UAE-ESMA, the Philippines sees the country becoming a distribution hub for its export products and services with halal certification to neighboring Muslim countries.