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Halal consumption is a cornerstone of Islam, covering sectors as varying as food, pharmaceuticals, clothing and cosmetics.
But with countries now competing to become hubs for the Islamic economy, the industry is coming into renewed focus.
Key on the agenda is standardisation, with Malaysia, Indonesia and Dubai all looking to become centres for the Halal industry.
Dubai's plans will see an international centre for Halal food established this quarter, with the aim of becoming a major reference point in the global
food industry.
This follows the establishment of a centre for accreditation and certification of Halal food at a local level.
"In recent times we have broadened our vision and are now working on the concept of a Halal code which aims to bring out schemes on various products and establishments," says Farah Al Zarooni, director of Standards Department at Emirates Authority for Standardisation & Metrology.
And there is big money at stake.
The global expenditure of Muslim consumers in the food and lifestyle sectors was estimated at $1.62 trillion in 2012 and is expected to reach $2.47 trillion by 2018, according to the State of the Islamic Economy 2013 report by Reuters.
Of these the food product market accounted for $1,088 billion or 16.6 per cent of global expenditure in 2012, and is set to rise to $1,626 billion by 2018. While $224 billion or 10.6 per cent of global expenditure accounted for clothing and footwear.
With the world's Muslim population continuing to rise, demand can only increase. US firm Pew Research Centre estimates that the Muslim population will this 2.2 billion will make up more than 25 per cent of the world's population, a three per cent increase from current levels.
The formation of a global Halal standard and regulatory framework is key on the agenda, and considered vital for ensuring the credibility and effectiveness of products.
"Integrity is the foundational building block of the Halal concept. The need is pronounced given the number of high profile global cases of meat integrity issues (eg. horse meat and pork traces in the global meat production chain) or other fraud Halal labelling cases globally," notes the report.
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