Prime Holdings UAE, has been awarded the Halal Accreditation Certificate by Emirates International Accreditation Center (EIAC), the UAE government body that gives Halal accreditation certification to companies in the country. Prime Holdings is the first certification body that has been awarded the Halal Accreditation Certificate.
Salah Ameen, Vice Chairman of Prime Holdings, was joined by Mary Jane Alvero Al Mahdi, CEO of Prime Holdings in receiving the certificate from Khalid Al Sharif, Assistant Director General for Health, Safety and Environment Control (HSEC) and Amina Ahmed Mohammed, Director of EIAC. The awarding of certificate was held during the opening of Gulfood, an annual international B2B food event in Dubai held at the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC) on February 26.
With the accreditation certificate, said Ameen, Prime Holding is now eligible to offer Halal certification service to any food manufacturer or company that wants to add value to their products and make sure that those are Halal-certified.
“Having 1.5 billion Muslims around the world, Halal is a must, following the Shariah Law. Besides that, the trend for Islamic economy is going full speed, and with this, Halal has demands from these countries. We are making sure that we are taking a part of this trend not only commercially but also religiously by following the Islamic Law,” said Ameen.
Along with Prime Holdings, five other companies from Japan, Ireland, and Croatia were given Halal Accreditation Certificates.
Amina Ahmed Mohammed pointed out that the process of accreditation is not easy as EIAC demands many requirements from companies that apply for it, such as the case of Prime Holdings.
“Normally, the accreditation is a long process that takes about three to six months and even one year, depending on the readiness of the company to comply with the requirements. But Prime Holdings only took about three months to comply with all the requirements and I want to congratulate the company for being the first local certification company in the UAE to get this certification,” Mohammed told The Filipino Times.
Al Sharif also applauded Prime Holdings’ recent accomplishment. He said: “Here at the Food Safety Authority, we need to have everything comply with government standard especially in Halal. And Prime is following our standards and procedures.”
Halal means lawful or permitted as per the Islamic Law (Shariah Law). In the UAE, a halal product can be recognized by the halal logo and certifications. Non-compliance with this regulation is punishable by a fine of Dh30,000 to 100,000.
