Dhaka, January 25 (Special Correspondent/OurVoice): Initiatives have been taken to become a member of the Dubai-based International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF).
In order to increase exports to this market, the membership of this forum will be confirmed through the Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB). It is learned that new members of the forum do not have to pay any subscription for the first three years. The rate of subscription in the fourth year has yet to be decided.
It is learned that this decision was taken at the recent meeting of the secretarial committee. Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam presided over the meeting, which was attended by senior secretaries of finance, foreign, commerce and industry ministry.
According to a 2018 report by The Global Halal Industry, the global halal products and services market, excluding the financial services sector, is currently valued at about 2.3 trillion USD. The size of this market is increasing at the rate of about 20 percent every year. According to the international research institute ‘Hexa Research’, the size of the global Halal goods and services market in 2024 will be around 12.14 trillion Dollar.
According to the Ministry of Industry, due to the rapid expansion of the market for Halal products, more than one organizations are being established in different countries to certify Halal products. Various international quality certification bodies are being set up to certify the quality of these organizations. During a bilateral meeting during her visit to the United Arab Emirates in February 2019, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured that she would seriously consider becoming a member of the IHAF. BAB’s current initiative is a continuation of the Prime Minister’s promise.
Currently, 36 countries are members of the IHAF. Of these, 29 countries are full members of the forum, 2 are associate members and 5 are affiliate members.
