The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday banned the production, storage, distribution, and sale of food, medicines and cosmetic items with halal certification in the state with immediate effect. The ban has been imposed in the interest of public health and to prevent confusion, officials stated.
The order from the Uttar Pradesh Food Commissioner said, ‘In the interest of public health, production, storing, distribution and sale of halal certified edible items are banned in Uttar Pradesh with immediate effect.’
Halal certification assures that the products and services are in accordance with Islamic law. According to the Commissioner’s order, the authority to determine the quality of food items rests only with the agencies named in the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006.
‘Thus, Halal certification of food products is a parallel system which creates confusion regarding the quality of food items and is completely against the basic intention of the said Act and is not tenable under Section 89 of the said Act,’ the order states.
The authorities also threatened individuals who violated the ban with harsh penalties. However, Halal-certified foods produced for export are free from the ban.
The ruling came after the state government said earlier today that the Uttar Pradesh police had launched various cases against several companies for selling ‘Halal certified’ products using forged certificates.
Cases were filed against entities such as Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra, and others for allegedly exploiting religious sentiments to boost sales by providing halal certificates to customers of a specific religion, according to a statement issued by the state government.
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