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Organisation of Islamic Cooperation sets up new halal pharmaceuticals technical committee

pharmafile | November 27, 2019 | News story | Research and Development Arabic, Halal, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Saudi Arabia, malaysia 

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) standards body, the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC), has set up a new technical committee for halal pharmaceuticals.

This is an effort to drive the standardisation process of the sector. Malaysia was the country that made the proposal and will take up secretariat responsibilities for the new committee.

The OIC said in a statement Monday that it will be helmed by chairperson Dr Shari Ismail for the term 2020-2025. The SMIIC now has 17 technical committees, including halal cosmetics, halal food, halal supply chain and halal management systems.

The goal of the SMIIC through its committees is to harmonise the standards of the member states of the OIC, and establish uniformity in metrology, lab testing and standardisation activities. The OIC is the biggest inter-government organisation after the UN. It contains almost all Muslim majority nations, as well as many with large Muslim populations like the Ivory Coast and Uganda, while others like Russia and Thailand sit as observer states.

‘Halal’ means permissible in Arabic, and food or products that are to be deemed halal have to be produced according to Islamic rules and conditions. The Halal pharmaceuticals market is set to hit $174.59 billion by 2025, and its revenue was $39.90 in its largest market, Asia-Pacific, in 2018. The expansion of markets in the MENA region and sub-Saharan Africa are set to drive its growth over the coming years.

Conor Kavanagh

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