What is Halal certification, and what does it check?
Halal certification confirms, after an audit, that a product and the plant that makes it meet a given Halal standard. It is issued by a Halal certification body. It does not replace ONSSA sanitary approval or food safety certification: it answers a different question.
The international reference text is the Codex Alimentarius, the joint FAO/WHO food standards commission: the General Guidelines for Use of the Term “Halal”, CAC/GL 24-1997, adopted in 1997. It is guidance for governments, not a certification standard. It defines halal food as food permitted under Islamic law that contains nothing unlawful, has not been prepared or stored with equipment or facilities that are not free from anything unlawful, and has not been in contact with non-compliant food.
The same text opens two options that matter to a manufacturer:
- producing Halal and non-Halal food in the same premises, on separate lines, provided any contact between the two is prevented (2.2.1);
- using for Halal production facilities previously used for other products, after cleaning according to Islamic requirements (2.2.2).
It lists unlawful sources (3.1), including pigs, blood, lawful animals not slaughtered according to its rules, intoxicating or hazardous plants and drinks, and additives derived from those sources. It sets the conditions for slaughter (3.2) and two labelling rules (4): the word “halal” or an equivalent term appears on the label of a product claimed as such, and the claim must not suggest that halal food is healthier or nutritionally superior.
Scheme | What it confirms | Who issues or checks it | Our page |
|---|---|---|---|
ONSSA sanitary approval or authorisation | That the establishment may produce and place food on the market under Law 28-07 | ONSSA | |
HACCP plan | That health hazards are under control | The site, checked by inspectors, buyers and auditors | |
ISO 22000, FSSC 22000, BRCGS, IFS | An audited food safety system; FSSC 22000, BRCGS and IFS are GFSI-recognised | Approved certification body | |
Halal certification | Conformity with a Halal standard: ingredients, slaughter, segregation, cleaning, labelling | Halal body recognised by the target market | This page |
Kosher certification | Conformity with the rules of the chosen Kosher agency | Kosher certification agency | This page |
Food safety and Halal answer different questions, but they are prepared with the same tools: specifications, suppliers, segregation, cleaning, traceability and labelling.
How is Halal organised in Morocco?
Three players or texts matter: IMANOR for Halal certification, ONSSA for sanitary approval and import and export controls, and Decree 2-12-389 for labelling.
IMANOR and the Moroccan Halal standard
The Moroccan Standards Institute (IMANOR) develops Moroccan standards (NM) and runs certification schemes. It certifies, for example, pest management services against NM EN 16636, as noted on our food safety programmes page. It also issues Halal certification, based on a Moroccan Halal standard for food referenced as NM 08.0.800.
According to its “Certification HALAL” page (in French), the Label Halal is a mark owned by IMANOR that attests conformity with standard NM 08.0.800, developed with the Higher Council of Ulema on the basis of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reference framework. The procedure runs as follows:
Stage | What IMANOR provides for |
|---|---|
Audit of the production unit | A team made up of an IMANOR auditor qualified in food safety and an expert in Islamic affairs recognised by the Higher Council of Ulema |
Sampling, where needed | Depending on the food, samples sent for analysis to a laboratory qualified by IMANOR |
Decision | A favourable decision, based on the assessment report, grants the right to use the label on the labelled products |
Maintenance | Two surveillance audits, in the first and second years, then renewal after three years |
The details are in the General Rules of the Label Halal, and IMANOR publishes the list of label holders, last updated on 29 October 2026.
Whatever the body, the audit will cover the themes the Codex already sets: ingredients, slaughter, segregation, cleaning and labelling. That is where we start.
ONSSA: sanitary approval, imports and exports
Sanitary approval or authorisation comes first: according to ONSSA, food establishments must be approved or authorised on sanitary grounds. Halal certification is built on an establishment that is in order, never instead of it.
For exports, ONSSA states that products subject to export sanitary controls must comply with the rules in force, especially those of destination countries, and travel with sanitary documents signed by its official services (import and export controls). The sanitary certificate does not replace the Halal certificate, and vice versa: an importer may ask for both.
For imports, Decree 2-89-597 of 12 October 1993, Article 3, sets the sanitary documents for imported animal products. The sanitary certificate must, among other things, state that meat and meat products intended for Muslims come from animals slaughtered according to the Muslim rite. A halal slaughter certificate, issued by an Islamic body approved by the official authorities of the country of origin, must confirm it. For a Moroccan processor buying imported meat, that certificate belongs in each batch file.
Labelling
Decree 2-12-389, Article 7, provides that labelling must not mislead the buyer, in particular on the nature, identity, qualities or composition of the product, or on its method of manufacture or production. A Halal claim is precisely a claim about the method of production. The practical rule follows: the claim or logo appears only on products covered by a valid certificate, with traced materials and batches.
Moroccan text | What it provides | What it means for the site |
|---|---|---|
Law 28-07 and Decree 2-10-473 | Sanitary approval or authorisation of establishments | Halal is built on an approved or authorised establishment |
Decree 2-89-597, Article 3 | Imported meat intended for Muslims: slaughter according to the Muslim rite, halal slaughter certificate | The certificate travels with each imported meat batch and goes into the supplier file |
Decree 2-12-389, Article 7 | Labelling must not mislead, including on the method of manufacture or production | A Halal claim or logo only on covered, traced products |
ONSSA export controls | Compliance with destination-country rules, sanitary documents signed by ONSSA | Sanitary and Halal certificates are both prepared |
Exporting to Muslim-majority markets: which Halal certificate will your buyer accept?
The one issued by the body the destination country and the buyer recognise, under the standard they require. The Codex guidelines leave interpretation to the competent authorities of the importing country. They provide that the importing country should in principle accept certificates issued by the religious authorities of the exporting country, unless it justifies other specific requirements. An importing country may therefore require a particular standard or bodies it has recognised.
Start from the contract, not from the body. Three typical cases for Moroccan exporters:
- a Casablanca biscuit maker targeting a Gulf distributor: the buyer names the body and wants a certificate per product; review fats, emulsifiers, flavourings and fillings;
- an Agadir cannery shipping to West Africa: the importer wants a Halal certificate with every shipment, on top of the sanitary certificate; review oils, sauces, additives and batch traceability;
- a confectioner supplying a European retailer: the request comes from a private specification; review gelatines, colours and flavour carriers.
In the other direction, IMANOR runs a recognition scheme for foreign Halal certification bodies, based in particular on OIC and SMIIC requirements. Its recognition rules (in French), version 2 applicable since 4 June 2026, provide for document review and on-site assessments, and IMANOR publishes the list of recognised bodies (October 2026). For a Moroccan processor buying ingredients certified abroad, that is the first list to check. IMANOR’s Halal pages, however, publish no list of agreements under which foreign authorities recognise the Moroccan label: that question is settled with the buyer.
Questions to put to your buyer in writing
A written answer to these seven questions prevents the most expensive outcome: a successful audit by a body the market does not accept.
Sourcing Halal products from Morocco: what should a buyer check?
Buyers in the Middle East, Europe and Africa who source from Moroccan or African suppliers can use the same logic in reverse. Ask for the certificate, but also for what makes it credible:
- the name of the certification body and the standard applied, and whether your market accepts that body;
- the scope of the certificate: site, product list, validity dates;
- the supplier’s ONSSA approval or authorisation number, and the sanitary certificate for the shipment;
- the supplier’s own controls on ingredients: how it tracks the Halal status and certificate expiry of each material;
- how shared lines are managed, if the site also produces non-Halal products;
- the result of the supplier’s last traceability test on a Halal batch.
If you need this checked on site, a second-party supplier audit is covered on our audits and inspections page.
What does a Halal audit check, and how do you prepare?
It checks the status of every ingredient, suppliers, segregation, cleaning, traceability and labelling, plus slaughter where meat is involved. The exact requirements are those of the standard the body applies; the Codex gives the framework. The table shows where each piece of evidence already exists in your system.
Theme | What the auditor looks for | Evidence to prepare | Where it already exists |
|---|---|---|---|
Ingredients and processing aids | The Halal status of every material, including additives, flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and carriers | Ingredient register, technical data sheets, valid supplier certificates | Specifications and supplier approval |
Suppliers | Certificates that cover the right product, site and period | Certificate list with expiry dates, alert before expiry | Supplier evaluation |
Meat and derivatives | Species, slaughter and halal slaughter certificate | Certificate per batch, goods-in check | Goods-in and traceability |
Segregation | No contact between Halal and non-Halal products | Flow plan, storage rules, scheduling, batch identification | Allergen management plan, zoning |
Cleaning | Cleaning that meets the standard before Halal production on shared equipment | Procedure, records, verification | Cleaning programme |
Traceability | Proof that a Halal batch contains only Halal materials | Traceability test with mass balance on a Halal batch | Annual traceability test |
Labels and logo | A claim or logo only on covered products | Artwork approval, list of certified products, line checks | Label control |
People | Teams who know the rules for their own job | Training plan, certificates | Food safety training |
Ingredients: where audits are won or lost
Most findings come from an inconspicuous component of animal or alcohol origin: gelatine, fats, emulsifiers, enzymes, animal proteins, colours, flavour carriers and solvents, release agents. The Codex counts additives derived from unlawful sources as unlawful (3.1.4). The treatment of some components, such as alcohol used as a flavour carrier, differs from one standard to another: the target standard decides, not the supplier’s habit.
The method fits in one matrix: each material, its origin, its Halal status, the evidence and the expiry date of that evidence. A change of supplier, data sheet or supplier manufacturing site reopens the line. False certificates and substitution are a fraud risk like any other and belong in your vulnerability assessment, described on our food safety programmes page.
Shared lines
A dedicated line makes the audit simpler, but the Codex does not require one (see above). For a shared line, write down who decides the production order, how cleaning is done and verified, how products and packaging are identified, and what happens to a batch made outside the rules. The logic is that of an allergen plan: list, assess contact routes, control, verify.
Slaughter
For an abattoir or cutting plant, the Codex sets several conditions (3.2): a Muslim slaughterer who is of sound mind and knows the slaughter rules; a lawful animal that is alive at the time of slaughter; the invocation pronounced immediately before slaughtering each animal; a sharp instrument not lifted during the cut; and severance of the trachea, oesophagus and main blood vessels of the neck. Stunning, its methods and their control must be confirmed in the target standard and with the buyer before any investment in equipment.
How does Halal fit with your HACCP plan, ISO 22000 or a GFSI standard?
By building it into the existing system instead of writing it alongside. Halal certification is not among the GFSI-recognised programmes and does not replace BRCGS, IFS or FSSC 22000. It does rely on the same mechanisms, so a certified site has already done much of the work.
Halal need | System element that carries it | Our page |
|---|---|---|
Ingredient status and supplier certificates | Supplier approval and specifications | |
Product segregation | Allergen plan method: list, contact routes, control, verification | |
Cleaning between runs | Good hygiene practices and cleaning programme | |
Traceability and mass balance | Traceability test and recall exercise | |
Halal claim on the label | Label control and evidence for claims | |
False certificates, substitution | Food fraud vulnerability assessment | |
Check before the body’s audit | Internal audit and mock audit |
Two rules avoid confusion. Health hazards stay in the HACCP plan: Halal status is not a hazard in the sense of Codex CXC 1-1969 and must not create artificial CCPs; if the target standard asks for its own analysis of Halal control points, keep it separate. And for a BRCGS or FSSC 22000 site, a Halal claim is also a claim under the standard’s requirements on evidence, covered on our food safety programmes page.
Kosher: what changes in the preparation?
Kosher certification confirms that a product meets Jewish dietary law, kashrut, as applied by the chosen Kosher certification agency. That agency writes the requirements, approves ingredients and organises supervision. We do not name agencies: as with Halal, the buyer says which one it accepts.
In general terms, the themes we prepare are the following; their exact content is set by the agency:
- approval of each ingredient, additive and processing aid, and of its supplier;
- the category of each product (meat, dairy or neutral) and no mixing of categories the rules forbid;
- the status of equipment and how it is prepared before Kosher production;
- the agency’s supervision visits and the records it asks for;
- use of the agency’s symbol on the pack, for covered products only.
Halal | Kosher | |
|---|---|---|
Basis | Islamic law; Codex CAC/GL 24-1997 as the international framework | Jewish dietary law (kashrut) |
Who sets the audit requirements | The Halal body and the standard it applies; the importing country | The chosen Kosher agency |
Common sensitive points | Ingredients of animal origin, alcohol, slaughter, segregation, cleaning | Ingredient status, product categories, equipment status |
What ACG prepares | Ingredient register, segregation, cleaning, traceability, labelling, mock audit | The same foundations, following the agency’s written rules |
A Halal certificate is not a Kosher certificate, and vice versa. One site can target both: the foundations then serve twice, provided each material carries both statuses and their evidence.
Is your site ready for a Halal audit?
This is the checklist we use at the start of a gap assessment.
If more than three boxes are empty, start with a gap assessment before approaching the certification body.
What ACG does for your Halal or Kosher certification
The foundation of this work is your food safety system: HACCP plan, ISO 22000, food safety programmes and, if you supply retail, one of the GFSI standards. Our full offer is on the food safety page. To test your file before the body’s visit, ask for a mock audit through our audits and inspections.
Our food safety training trains your teams on site, in public sessions or remotely, in English, French or Arabic. Funding through OFPPT special training contracts is prepared on our CSF and OFPPT funding page, under the OFPPT rules and with no amount promised. To start the conversation, describe your project.