How to get halal certified

Halal certification is a check against Islamic dietary rules, carried out by a body that is independent of the producer. For most food the questions are about ingredients and how the product is made: whether any additive, carrier or processing aid comes from pork, alcohol or another forbidden source, and whether the plant can keep certified and non-certified production apart. For meat and poultry, the slaughter itself is part of the check.

A cleaner application moves faster. It helps to have the following ready before you contact a certification body:

• A full ingredient list for each product, with specifications for additives and processing aids.
• Supplier names and, where you have them, halal statements or certificates for incoming materials.
• A description of the production line, including any products you make that are not meant to be halal.
• Your cleaning and changeover procedures between production runs.
• For meat and poultry: the slaughterhouse you use and how the animals are handled.

1. 01Apply. You send the certification body your company and product details and a first list of recipes and suppliers.
2. 02Document review. The body checks recipes, specifications and supplier evidence against the halal standard and asks for anything missing.
3. 03On-site audit. An auditor visits the plant to see the line, the storage and the cleaning in practice; for meat and poultry, the auditor also observes the slaughter.
4. 04Decision. If the plant meets the standard, the body issues a certificate for the approved products and sites.
5. 05Surveillance. The body runs follow-up audits, some announced and some not, to confirm the plant stays in line.

Religious slaughter in the EU is governed by Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing. The regulation sets a general rule that animals are stunned before slaughter and allows a derogation for slaughter prescribed by religious rites, carried out in an approved slaughterhouse. Member states may add their own conditions.

In Latvia, religious slaughter is allowed under the Animal Protection Law and must take place in a slaughterhouse approved and supervised by the Food and Veterinary Service (PVD). The standard the committee applies sets the requirements for the act of slaughter itself, from who may perform it to how the animal is handled. The guide to the halal slaughter standard covers this in detail.

There is no single price or fixed timeline; both depend on your products and your plant. The main drivers are the number of products and sites, how complex the supply chain is, how much incoming material already carries halal evidence, and how ready your documents are when you apply. A single, well-documented product line is quicker to certify than a large plant with mixed production and many suppliers. The cost and timeline guide explains what moves each of these.

A certificate covers specific products and sites for a set term, not the company as a whole. Changing a recipe, a supplier or a production process can take a product outside what was certified, so tell the certification body before you make such a change. Surveillance audits during the term, and a re-audit at renewal, confirm the plant still meets the standard.