Smart Halal Traceability strategic initiative (Halal SmarTrace®) launched by EIAC, DIEDC and Dubai Municipality with Swiss company SICPA as technology partner

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, October 30, 2018

Constantly innovating to protect consumers, Dubai City of Sustainability and Happiness has taken the initiative to tackle the challenges posed by today’s complex supply chains in a globalised and digitised world. A smart track & trace system is being launched, designed to enable traceability for the consumers and authorities, as well as detect counterfeits and identify illicit goods. Though the initial focus shall be on the traceability of Halal products, be they food or other, the system is designed to be extendible to other product categories requiring traceability to ensure consumer safety. It will allow the authorities to significantly mitigate risks related to potential out of specs products and protect the legitimate economy.

On a worldwide basis there is much confusion regarding Halal products with over 150 different Halal marks in 48 countries, not to mention uncontrolled logos claiming unverifiable Halal conformity. This unfortunately creates an opaque environment where the consumer can be lost or even mislead as to the true Halal nature of the products he or she buys. Statistics show that counterfeit goods account for a huge proportion of Halal-marked goods globally. This can be a mix of Halal products which have not been certified properly meaning consumers have no access to the relevant information or outright misrepresentation and fraud.