Under an initiative of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to categorise food products produced in the Maldives as ‘halal’, three companies have on Sunday been awarded the first ‘Halal certificates’.
After research into the manufacturing process, the Islamic Ministry today awarded five products of Felivaru Fisheries, 12 products of Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), and three products of Horizon Fisheries with the certificate.
The certificates were awarded by Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed at a ceremony held in the Islamic Ministry on Sunday.
The new policy represents the government’s attempts to find alternative fish export markets, including the middle-eastern and the Malaysian market, after withdrawing its application for European Union (EU) duty-free status of imported fish from the country.
Last November, the EU declined to extend the duty-free status on Maldivian fish exports under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program – a non-reciprocal trade agreement extended to developing countries – as the government had not ratified all 27 required international conventions.
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