The government has issued the first Halal Certificates to products of 3 major fish exporters.
The government held a special event at the Islamic Ministry, to mark the launch of its Halal certification scheme.
The 3 companies who had their products certified halal are state-owned enterprises MIFCO and Felivaru Fisheries, as well as private exporter Horizon Fisheries.
Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed and Islamic Affairs Minister Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, spoke at the event about the importance of halal certification of fish exports.
The Economic Minister expressed his belief that the entire world has great confidence in halal-certified products.
Islamic Minister Shaheem hailed the governments new halal certification mechanism as it is the product of 6 years of work. He praised staff at the Islamic Ministry, for what he believes is a great achievement.
The Halal Working Group at the Islamic Ministry were given commemorative plaques at last nights event. Additionally, trained Halal Assurance Officers were given certificates.
The government announced intentions to certify Maldivian fish exports as halal in order to access Arab-Islamic markets. The decision was taken after the EU removed their duty-free status for Maldivian fish.
The EU refused to extend their duty-free arrangement, based on Maldives failure to secure certain fundamental freedoms, such as the freedom of religion