As halal certification barriers rise, five organizations, including KITA, join forces as “one team”

[Financial News] Five domestic export support organizations have joined forces to respond to the growth of the global halal market and tighter certification regulations in major countries. As Indonesia and other major countries expand mandatory halal certification, increasing the burden on domestic companies seeking to export, the organizations have decided to establish a cooperative framework offering one-stop support from certification to testing and analysis and overseas marketing. Their aim is to connect support services that had been dispersed across the organizations and lower barriers to entry into halal markets for domestic exporters.
The Korea International Trade Association said it signed a multilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the 16th at Trade Tower in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), Korea Testing & Research Institute (KTR), and Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI) to strengthen support for export companies entering halal markets.
The agreement was drawn up to enable a joint response to country-specific certification requirements and regulations that are tightening alongside the growth of halal markets. In particular, as mandatory halal certification in Indonesia and other major countries is becoming a new barrier to market entry for exporters, the organizations judged that a systematic response through interagency cooperation was needed.
Until now, domestic exporters preparing for halal certification have had to check each country’s regulations separately and seek out testing and analysis, certification consultations, and overseas market information from different organizations. The organizations plan to reduce these difficulties by linking their expertise and support programs through the agreement.
Under the agreement, the five organizations will share information on halal policies and regulations, certification systems, and market trends in each country. They also plan to use the “Comprehensive Halal Information Platform” to connect their support programs and help companies get an overview of the services they need.
The organizations will also jointly identify certification and market-entry difficulties encountered by exporters. By linking their specialized services, including testing and analysis, certification consultations and consulting, and overseas marketing, they will lay the groundwork for companies to receive support at each stage, from preparing for certification to developing actual export markets.
Those attending the signing ceremony were Jeong Hui-cheol, head of KITA’s Trade Promotion Headquarters; Kim Gwan-muk, head of KOTRA’s Economic Security and Trade Cooperation Headquarters; Jeon Gi-chan, aT’s executive director for export foods; Shin Jung-ha, head of KTR’s Global Headquarters; and Kim Young-chan, head of KFRI’s Food Industry Research Headquarters.
Starting with this agreement, KITA plans to maintain regular information exchanges with the participating organizations and pursue joint projects. Its goal is to ease the burden on domestic companies entering halal markets by strengthening links among existing support programs and improving their ability to respond to changes in country-specific regulations.
[email protected] Kim Dong-ho Reporter