File PhotoISLAMABAD :The importers of halal products in a meeting with Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry have expressed their great concern on the issuance of SRO 237 by the Ministry of Commerce & Textile. They said that as per the said SRO importers will have to comply with the strict conditions while importing halal food products including ingredients and details of the products of the food products should be printed in Urdu and English language on the consumer packaging, the Logo of the halal certification body should be printed on the consumer packaging, and the labeling should not be in the form of a sticker, overprinting stamp or scratched labeling.

The delegation said that the majority of the halal food products are small importers and it was not possible for them to comply with such strict conditions especially writing details of ingredients and products in Urdu and printing of Logo of Halal Certification body on the packaging. They said that most of the small importers buy halal food products from the wholesale markets around the globe as they don’t have direct access to the producers that makes it extremely difficult for them to fulfill conditions that were mentioned in the said SRO. They said that import volume of halal products was normally very low and factories do not offer services of customized labelling in case of small orders.

Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that ICCI has been pursuing this matter almost for the last two years but still there was no positive response from the Government. He said that the inflation has gone beyond the means and it was not affordable for the consumers to buy imported Halal food products at high price. He said that it has also become difficult for the importers to continue their businesses with the current policy because in the present covid-19 situation business community has suffered huge financial losses.

Sardar Yasir Ilyas urged the Ministry to consider the request for revoking the SRO 237 on immediate basis in order to avoid further closure of business or going them in default. He said that imposition of such conditions would make it difficult for the small importers of halal food products to comply with the condition of printing details of the products in Urdu language. He said that the government should ease out conditions and allow importers to paste information on the packing in Urdu in the form of stickers. He further said that Halal Certificate should be accepted and the condition of printing of Halal Logo on the consumer packing should be removed. He said that such conditions which are being imposed through the said SRO would curtail the imports and also increase the price of imported halal food products.