Halal Guidelines

General Guidelines on Certification

The table underneath gives a framework of the fundamental procedure for Halal Certification. Additional data on how expenses of certification are determined, and other general information is given over the page.

	Certification Decision Captured within the Organisation's file.
	Evaluation of Report Internal evaluation process of Halal Certification based on auditor's recommendations. Approval sign off by the Certification Evaluation Committee consisting of the Certification Manager, Islamic Affairs expert and one other.
	Product Compliance Audit Conduct product compliance (ISO Type 5 Certification Scheme) audit. This may include sampling and inspections and testing of product to ensure it meets the Halal requirements specifications.
	Schedule Audit and Review of Plans Selection of auditor and/or audit team ensuring suitability, technical range, no conflict of interest. Review of clients Quality Plans, HACCP, PRP and/or other plan for the quality assurance of product.
	Evaluation of Application Application evaluation process completed by the Certification contract review team. Approval to proceed is documented. Determine risk category of organisation. Determine audit duration times.
	Receive Application Form Size, type, product category, risk rating, scope, business entity details including any additional sites and other accompanying documents such as HACCP, SOPs, Safety policies and procedures.
	Insurance of Certification and Trademark Halal Logo Issue Certificates and approval to use HCA Halal Logo on food stuff.
	Public Information Update website and Certified Organisation Register Notify the appropriate authorities.

Cost

General:

The costs of certification include administration costs, a, desktop audit, a site audit and the cost attached to the certification license itself. These are all determined by three factors:

HCA Halal Authority operates in accordance with the requirements of ISO17065 and we use that standard as a general guide to determine the time necessary to complete our audit functions.
We are unable to provide a prospective client with a cost of certification until they have completed their initial application and we have the information needed to assess the work effort required. For some clients this may also entail a face to face meeting to better understand their operations and needs.

Subsequent Years

HCA Halal Authority provides clients with a three-year Certification License subject to surveillance audits which may be annually, or more frequently, depending on the nature of the operations. This allows us to provide discounted rates for administration and certification license fees for years 2 and 3 provided the operational processes have not changed.

Product Fees

Part of the costs of certification may include a fee per product category or line. This depends on the nature and size of operations. Your Certification License will either be site based, which tells your customers that everything produced at that site is Halal, or it will list the products that we have certified as Halal. Where we list products on the Certificate itself this will generally be when a product fee is required. During the term of your Certification License you may request to add, change, or remove products from you Certification. Product fees are based on sliding scale linked to the volume of product items and the size of the organisation.

Single Proposal

The above may seem complicated but reflects the complexity involved in Halal Certification at the level of an international standard. HCA Halal Authority will provide a full proposal that covers all the above at the beginning of the engagement once we have sufficient information to assess your operations and requirements for your agreement prior to any work commencing.