International Trade Centre launches online Halal Standards Map tool

The International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, has launched an online Halal Standards Map tool that allows users to identify, scan, compare, and assess halal standards. 

The aim of the Tool is to help users navigate the proliferation of halal standards worldwide. The initiative, according to ITC's website, "intends to provide more transparency and comparability between different standards and audit protocols." The tool is also designed to allow producers and manufacturers in self-assessing their compliance situation against the halal standard of their interest. 

HOW IT WORKS

ITC's Halal Standards Map Tool leverages its Standards Map which provides information on over 170 standards, codes of conduct, and audit protocols addressing sustainability hotspots in global supply chains. 

However, the Halal Standards Map Tool is nowhere as extensive as the original Standards Map; the former only has nine standards available. (See box)

Our search for standards for livestock from Brazil going to Malaysia did not yield any relevant standards. 

Similarly, our search for standards for 'Other biological ingredients' for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia and Turkey also did not yield any standards. 

POTENTIAL

Despite its current limited pool of halal standards to assess and compare, it has significant potential to be the go-to halal standards tool for Islamic Economy businesses if the ITC continues to build its halal standards database. 

The Tool's extensive list of sectors that can be searched includes services such as Tourism, and Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, which bodes well for its usability for Islamic Economy businesses as the Islamic Economy matures and considers guidelines and standards for sectors other than food and beverages, and pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

There are already different standards for sub-sectors of the Halal or Muslim-friendly Travel and Tourism sector, most notably from the Islamic Tourism Centre of Malaysia, CrescentRating, and Salam Standard. 

Additionally, there is also the potential for an advanced set of standards that overlap halal with ITC's large database of sustainability standards covering global supply chains. 

You can start using ITC's Halal Standards Map Tool here. 

The ITC report - From niche to mainstream: Halal goes global -  is available here for download in pdf. 

© Copyright SalaamGateway.com 2015