Back in 2011 following the development of the Halal Notice, New Zealand was the first non-Muslim country in the world to receive the Halal Journal award, given to the then New Zealand Food Safety Authority, and regarded as the highest halal award in the world.
Ritchie said the notice had meant halal procedure was embedded in processing plants, in a manner similar to hygiene procedures, and gave NZ processors the ability to differentiate themselves when marketing to halal nations.
“It also enables the Ministry for Primary Industries to go into bat for us into countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.”
The global halal meat market has reached US$300 billion a year in sales, but ironically no Muslim country ranks among the top 10 halal meat export countries, with Brazil, India, Australia and the US dominating.
Between Muslim countries there is considerable disparity in the interpretation of halal treatment of livestock for slaughter, particularly around practices like stunning the animal before slaughter. Ritchie said there was a vying of power between traditional Middle East countries and Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia over halal practice and direction.
“There is ambiguity in around 30% of the market on practices. A key area is stunning, which we require for our own animal welfare standards.”
Negotiating a Halal Notice that incorporated the demands of traditional killing practices with NZ’s need to maintain animal welfare standards by requiring stunning had proven to be something of a breakthrough in regulations, Ritchie said.
