Halal certification was started in India in 1974. It was confined to meat products initially and later expanded to other products including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, health products, toiletries and medical devices. Today, it even includes halal-friendly tourism, medical tourism, warehouse certification, restaurant certification and training among others in the ever-expanding list. It is even permeating into services like logistics, media, branding and marketing. Halal certificates are issued by religious Islamic organisations like Jamiat Ulama-E-Maharashtra, Halal Certification Services India Private Limited, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust and Halal India Private Limited right from 1974. Most businesses have started serving only halal meat and for people with religions where only jhatka meat is allowed. There have been claims from some elements that halal certification is just a certification for purity and authenticity. The FSSAI has not authorised anyone to issue halal certificates. The onus of the issue is on the government, to either mandate that the government certification is enough for any company to sell their goods or explain why they have allowed a particular community to demand a parallel certification mechanism in a so-called secular country.
