South Korea Will Adopt the Halal Certification System of UAE
Global Meat News reported on Thursday that South Korea's Ambassador Kwon Hae Ryong visited Abu Dhabi for the opening of the new Korea Agro-Trade Centre and announced that the UAE Halal Certification system will be introduced in Korea. The move hopes to spark trade in animal products with the UAE.
"The UAE halal certification program will be introduced in Korea," said Hae Ryong."I hope Korean agricultural produce will be popular in the UAE in the near future."
The National reported on Tuesday that in 2013, the Halal Development Council appealed for a certification body unifying the trade and market standards worldwide to avoid confusion in consumers and authorities that hindered trade between nations.
The Korea Agro-Trade Centre will trade up-to-date information with the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (Esma) regarding halal certification.
"There is a lot of trade between the Middle East and Korea," said president and chief executive of the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation Dr. Kim Jae Soo. "There is also a demand for Korean products and it's increasing year by year."
UAE and South Korea have been working together since the 1970s for culture, education, agriculture, healthcare, energy, defense and security.
"It is expanding rapidly," said Hae Ryong. "When our president visited last March, we signed an agreement on agricultural cooperation and halal food cooperation. This [centre] is the first step for implementation.
"This [centre] will allow us to have awareness of the halal food, industry and certification system here," Hae Ryong added. "We are developing our halal food industry in Korea to then hopefully export agricultural produce."
With UAE importing 90 percent of their food, South Korea's interest in having their goods Halal certified will promote diversity in Emirates' food and will avoid food shortages as demands increase.
"The UAE is a multicultural country," said director at Lulu Group International Salim M A. "This is the best place to try out new food. We already have Korean products in our supermarkets but with this office opening it will help us get more variety. People are always in search of new foods."