ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Science and Technology is weighing options for introduction of a bill to establish an authority to ensure supply of Halal food in the market and to keep an eye on imported food items.

This was stated by a ministry official, at the meeting of National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology, on Monday.

The bill will be called `The Pakistan Halal Authority Bill 2015` The committee chairman, Tariq Bashir Cheema, decided to form a sub-committee to finalise the draft bill.

On February 23, a senior government official informed the standing committee that a number of imported packed food items being sold in the markets contained `Haram`ingredients.

Additional secretary to the ministry, Mian Ijaz, also presented a list of 19 imported food items which were found containing `Haram` ingredients. Briefing the committee members, the official said the ministry was not mandated to stop sale or purchase of such products in the country.However, he said, its affiliated organisations such as Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) provided services with regard to setting of standards, accreditation of testing labs to the federal and provincial regulatory authorities.

The official said currently 78 items, including 37 food or edible items, were covered under the Compulsory Certification Marks Scheme announced by the PSQCA.

The 19 products listed as containing `Haram` ingredients include two brands of Chicken Tonight (imported from Holland); Bubblicious (UK); Chupa Bubble (Holland); Pascual Yogikids (Spain); three brands of Skittle Fruit (UK); Picnic Chicken (US); Slima Soup (UK); Knorr Chicken Soup (France); Cup A Soup (UK); Tulip Chicken (Denmark); Rice Chicken Broccoli (US); PastaChickenBroccoli(US);PastaCreamy Chicken (US); Heinz Dinner Chicken (England); Jell-O (US) and Pop Trats (US).

These items, according to the ministry`s data, contain `Haram` ingredients, including white wine, red wine, gelatin and E120,a food colour derived from insects. Some of the food items containing chicken have been placed in the list due to `doubts` about the `slaughtering mechanism` since `stunning animal is prohibited` in Islam.

Some of the products had been placed in the list because of a lack of `proper source or traceability to ascertain the Halal/ Haram status.

According to Trade Policy 2012-15, the import of all edible products shall be subject to the condition that they shall be free of any `Haram` element or ingredient.

On Monday, the committee was informed that soon a bill will be moved to make a law ensuring supply of `Halal` food in the market.

The committee directed the ministry to take measures in collaboration with the concerned departments to develop a mechanism to stop the sale of `Haram` products in the country.

Members decided to constitute a subcommittee headed by MNA Sajid Ahmed to keep a check on the efforts of the ministry and departments to stop the sale of objec-tionable products and look into the draft bill.

MNA Syed Muhammad Athar Hussain Shah Gillani of PML-N and member of the committee told Dawn there are many issues in the bill which need to be discussed.

`Besides taking up the issue of ingredients, the sub-committee will also discuss whether animals are slaughtered in an Islamic way,` he said.

The chairman of the sub-committee, established on Monday, Sajid Ahmed told Dawn that a similar bill has been prepared and will be tabled in Council of Common Interests (CCI) on March 20.

`I have been considering collecting the copy of the proposed bill and improving it.

Bills on Halal food have been passed in Malaysia and Brunei so I will download the copies of those bills to improve the draft bill,` he said.

Sajid Ahmed of MQM said on March 21 the draf t bill would be handed over to the committee with a request to table it in the parliament at the earliest.

-Ikram Junaldi