Dr. Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said, "We aim to boost the UAE’s position as a regional and global trade hub for food products through applying the highest standards of food safety to locally produced and imported foods. In addition to keeping food-borne diseases at bay, our food safety controls and measures boost the competitiveness of food products exported and re-exported by the UAE."
Saif Al Shara, Assistant Undersecretary for the Sustainable Communities Sector and Acting Assistant Undersecretary for the Food Diversity Sector, noted that a key pillar of food safety is the accreditation of slaughterhouses exporting meat and meat products to the UAE.
Al Shara explained the accreditation process applicable to slaughterhouses that export meat and meat products to the UAE, aimed at ensuring they uphold the halal criteria for animal slaughter. The ministry has contracted trusted organisations overseas to inspect the meat production process at the facilities and submit technical reports to the National Food Safety Committee, comprising experts from the ministry and local food control authorities from all emirates. After reviewing the reports, the Committee makes recommendations to the ministry regarding the accreditation of each slaughterhouse.
MoCCAE regularly updates the list of halal-accredited slaughterhouses in each country and the types of products they are allowed to export to the UAE. The list is published on the ministry’s website and circulated to local food control authorities. At present, it features 161 slaughterhouses from 26 countries.
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