The Committee for Technical Regulation and Metrology of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan plays an important role in the food safety of Kazakhstan protecting the market against fake, as well as dangerous and poor-quality products.
The head of the regional department in Karaganda Bauyrzhan Kasymov spoke about the results of the work undertaken in 2019 during a briefing at the regional communications service, the KazakhZerno.kz correspondent reports.
Specialists of the department conducted 35 preventative visits to enterprises, 35 unscheduled inspections, 17 joint inspections with other bodies, 63 remote measurements assessing product compliance to current standards.
When asked whether halal-certified food is technically regulated or not, Bauyrzhan Kasymov replied that this topic is a very hot issue now.
“At present, businesses are treating the issues of halal certification in Kazakhstan very seriously,” said the head of the department. – “This is important for those manufacturers who not only work for the domestic market but also foreign markets of Arab countries, Indonesia and other regions where halal standards are very strict and difficult to meet. Halal products should contain absolutely no trace of pork, blood and other components forbidden by Islam.”
"At present, Kazakhstan is working on technical regulations taking into account the experience of the abovementioned countries and their requirements for imported products. A tremendous amount of work has been carried out from June until now, and we should be getting results of this work very soon. Implementation of technical regulations should help our food enter promising international markets. Moreover, there must appear an organ that monitors and enforces compliance with standards. The organ must conduct accreditation procedures as well because companies violate many standards when they act independently. As a result, importing countries do not recognize halal certificates issued in Kazakhstan."
A related issue is an abundant amount of food products on store shelves labeled as “ECO” or “BIO”. In fact, they are no different from ordinary products, except for the price tag. Such deceptive labels mislead customers.
“As for the labeling, we have technical regulations on food safety,” said Bauyrzhan Kasymov. – The regulations operate on the territory of all EAEU member states. They are extremely important as they help to make the consumer aware of what he/she is buying and consuming. Labeling must contain accurate information on the composition of the product. All of this work is carried out by the Department for Quality Control of Goods, Works, and Services."
Source: https://kazakh-zerno.net/163760-halal-po-vsem-pravilam/
