Halal Certificate in India: i-CAS Export Scheme and Domestic Position
A halal certificate attests that a product and the process behind it conform to halal requirements — permissible ingredients, prescribed slaughter practice for meat, and segregation from non-halal material through sourcing, processing, storage and transport. For Indian businesses it is overwhelmingly an export document, because the buyers who require it are importers in Muslim-majority markets whose own regulators will not clear an uncertified consignment.
India's export framework is now structured. The Quality Council of India established the India Conformity Assessment Scheme (i-CAS) for Halal Meat and Meat Products for Exports, which the Directorate General of Foreign Trade notified to streamline halal certification for meat exports. Under it, specified meat and meat products may be exported as halal certified only if produced, processed or packaged in a facility holding valid i-CAS certification from a certification body accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies, with exporters registering through APEDA, which acts as monitoring body.
The domestic picture is in flux and this guide flags that explicitly rather than stating a settled rule. This guide covers the i-CAS scheme and which destinations require it, how the NABCB and APEDA chain works, the audit and consignment certification process, documents, validity, importing-country recognition, and the legislative change pending on domestic halal certification. Related export registrations are covered in import export code and RCMC registration.
What is halal certification?
Halal certification is a conformity assessment against a halal standard. A certification body examines the ingredients, the sourcing chain, the slaughter method and personnel where animals are involved, the cleaning and segregation regime, and the records that demonstrate control, and then certifies the facility and, in the export scheme, the individual consignment.
It is not a food safety approval and it does not substitute for one. A halal certificate says nothing about microbiological safety or compliance with Indian food standards, which is why a halal-certified exporter still needs a Central FSSAI licence and the testing regime that goes with it, covered in food testing.
Nor is it an Indian government product approval in the way a BIS licence is. Under the export scheme, government involvement is through notification of the scheme by DGFT, accreditation of certification bodies by NABCB and monitoring by APEDA — the certificate itself comes from the accredited certification body.
Who needs a halal certificate?
- Meat and meat product exporters shipping to destinations notified under the i-CAS framework
- Buffalo meat, sheep, goat and poultry processing and export units
- Integrated abattoir-cum-meat processing plants registered with APEDA
- Exporters whose overseas buyer or importing regulator stipulates halal certification
- Processed food exporters supplying Muslim-majority markets where the buyer requires it
- Ingredient and additive suppliers feeding halal-certified export production
- Contract manufacturers producing halal-certified lines for a brand owner
- Cold chain, storage and logistics providers handling certified consignments where the scheme requires control
If you sell only in India, the position is different and currently uncertain — see the section on the domestic framework below. Nothing in Indian law has historically required a business to obtain halal certification for domestic sale; the demand came from consumers and buyers.
What is the i-CAS Halal scheme?
i-CAS Halal is the India Conformity Assessment Scheme for Halal Meat and Meat Products for Exports, established by the Quality Council of India and notified by DGFT to bring order to what had been a fragmented private certification market. Its central rule is that meat and meat products may be exported as halal certified only if produced, processed or packaged in a facility holding valid certification under the scheme.
The certification must come from a certification body accredited by NABCB for the scheme. QCI publishes the list of NABCB-accredited halal certification bodies, and a certificate from a body outside that list does not satisfy the notified requirement however established the body may be.
Responsibilities are split deliberately. NABCB accredits the certification bodies. The certification bodies certify facilities and consignments. APEDA registers exporters and meat processing units and monitors that certification and export follow the i-CAS requirements, with digital information exchange between NABCB and APEDA across the accreditation lifecycle.
Which countries require i-CAS halal certification?
DGFT notifies the destinations for which i-CAS compliance is mandatory for specified meat and meat products, and the list has been expanded. Notification 34/2024-25 dated 1 October 2024 set out the initial list, and Notification 59/2025-26 dated 9 February 2026 added twenty further countries including Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Algeria, Kenya and Morocco.
| Element | Position under the notifications |
|---|---|
| Scope | Specified meat and meat products exported as halal certified |
| Certification requirement | Valid i-CAS Halal certification of the producing, processing or packaging facility |
| Certification body | Must be accredited by NABCB for the scheme |
| Exporter registration | Through APEDA, using the approval number registered with APEDA |
| Monitoring body | APEDA |
| Countries added in February 2026 | Twenty additional destinations, including Egypt, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Kenya and Morocco |
| Transition for those countries | Two weeks from the notification date, except Egypt |
| Transition for Egypt | Six months, to allow system readiness and onboarding of certification bodies |
| Other conditions | Compliance with importing country regulations continues to apply unchanged |
The notified country list and the specified product coverage are amended by DGFT from time to time, so the operative list for a planned shipment must be read from the current notification rather than from any summary — including this one. We confirm the position for the specific destination and HS code before a consignment is booked.
How do you get a halal certificate for exports?
- 1.Confirm the destination country and product fall within the notified i-CAS requirement
- 2.Ensure the unit is registered with APEDA and holds its approval number and registration
- 3.Hold the underlying statutory approvals — Central FSSAI licence, import export code and RCMC
- 4.Select a halal certification body from the NABCB-accredited list published by QCI
- 5.Log in to the i-CAS Halal portal using the credentials linked to your APEDA registration
- 6.Apply for facility certification and submit the process, sourcing and personnel documentation
- 7.Undergo document review and an on-site audit of slaughter, processing, segregation and sanitation
- 8.Close audit findings and obtain the facility certificate
- 9.Apply for consignment-level halal certification for each export shipment as the scheme requires
- 10.Verify that the certificate format and content satisfy the importing country's own requirements
- 11.Retain certificates, audit reports and traceability records with the shipping documents
- 12.Renew facility certification before expiry and maintain the conditions between audits
Existing certification bodies and export units were given a transition window to register with the accreditation body and APEDA when the scheme was introduced. Units that never completed that migration cannot rely on pre-scheme certificates for notified destinations.
What is audited during halal certification?
- Slaughter method, and the competence and eligibility of the personnel performing it
- Species and source of animals, and documentation of their origin
- Ingredient and additive specifications, including processing aids and carriers
- Supplier halal status for inputs that require it
- Physical segregation of halal and non-halal material through the plant
- Dedicated or validated cleaning of shared equipment and utensils
- Storage, freezing and cold chain segregation
- Packaging material suitability and labelling control
- Transport arrangements and consignment sealing
- Traceability from receipt to despatch, batch by batch
- Training records for staff handling certified production
- Internal controls and the record trail that evidences all of the above
Segregation and traceability are where audits most often find problems in mixed plants. A facility producing both certified and uncertified lines needs documented control at every shared point, not merely an intention to keep them apart.
What documents are required for halal certification?
- APEDA registration and the approval number for the meat processing unit
- Certificate of Registration cum Membership and export registration documents
- Central FSSAI licence covering the products and the premises
- Import export code and, where required, ICEGATE registration details
- Constitution documents of the exporting entity
- List of products and HS codes to be certified
- Process flow charts from receipt of animals or raw material to despatch
- Ingredient and additive list with specifications and supplier details
- Halal certificates or declarations for bought-in inputs where applicable
- Details of slaughter personnel and their eligibility documentation
- Sanitation, cleaning and segregation procedures
- Traceability and batch record formats
- Training records for personnel involved in certified production
- Previous halal certificates and audit reports, where the unit was certified before
How long is a halal certificate valid?
Facility certification under halal schemes has conventionally been issued for a limited period — commonly around a year — with surveillance during the period and recertification on expiry. Consignment certification, by its nature, is issued shipment by shipment.
Validity periods, surveillance frequency and renewal mechanics are set by the scheme documents and by the certification body, and QCI has revised the i-CAS scheme documents since launch. Confirm the term on your own certificate and the current scheme document rather than working from a general figure.
Between audits the certificate remains conditional. A change in supplier, ingredient, process or plant layout should be notified to the certification body, because shipping certified product from an uncontrolled change is the kind of finding that leads to suspension.
Does the importing country accept an Indian halal certificate?
Not automatically. i-CAS governs what India requires before a consignment may leave as halal certified. Whether the destination accepts it depends on that country's own halal regime, and several major markets recognise only certification bodies they have themselves approved or which hold a recognition arrangement with their national halal authority.
DGFT has been explicit that compliance with importing country regulations continues to apply alongside the i-CAS requirement. In practice that means two checks before every new market: is the certification body NABCB-accredited for i-CAS, and is it recognised by the authority in the destination country.
Because recognition lists on the importing side are maintained by foreign authorities and change without reference to Indian notifications, this is the single point on which we ask exporters to obtain written confirmation from the buyer before production begins.
What is the position on halal certification for domestic sale in India?
Historically, halal certification for domestic consumption was voluntary and market-driven, with private trusts and societies issuing certificates and charging for them, and no statutory authority regulating or standardising the practice.
Two developments have unsettled that. In November 2023 the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration prohibited the production, storage, distribution and sale of halal-certified food for domestic consumption in the state, taking the position that such labelling was inconsistent with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 — while expressly exempting products manufactured for export.
Separately, the Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2025 proposes to insert Section 43A into the FSS Act to prohibit any private organisation, trust, society or association from issuing halal certification for food items, collecting fees for it, or acting as an intermediary; to vest certification in an authority or agency designated by the Central Government; to require all fees to be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India; to confine halal certification to food intended for human consumption; and to provide for imprisonment up to two years or a fine up to ₹10 lakh, or both, for contravention.
This is flagged as pending legislation, not current law. The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in December 2025 and provides that it comes into force on a date the Central Government notifies. We have not verified that it has completed passage, received assent and been brought into force, nor that a designated agency or the procedural rules contemplated by it have been notified. Anyone planning domestic halal labelling should take a current legal position on commencement rather than rely on any secondary summary.
What are the consequences of getting halal compliance wrong?
On the export side the exposure is commercial and immediate. A consignment described as halal certified without valid i-CAS certification from an accredited body does not meet the notified condition, and the realistic outcomes are refused clearance, rejection at the destination port, or a buyer claim — each of which costs far more than certification.
On labelling, a claim that cannot be substantiated is a misbranding and misleading-claim risk under the FSS Act and under consumer protection law, independently of any halal-specific provision. Claims made on a pack must be supportable by the certification actually held.
And if and when Section 43A is brought into force in the form proposed, issuing or intermediating private halal certification for food would carry its own penal consequence. Because commencement is a matter for notification, the prudent course is to monitor it rather than to assume either that it is already in force or that it will never be.
How does halal certification relate to other certifications?
Halal certification answers a religious-compliance question about ingredients and process. It sits on top of, and does not replace, the statutory food licence and the voluntary systems certifications buyers ask for.
| Instrument | What it establishes | Who issues it |
|---|---|---|
| Central FSSAI licence | Statutory authorisation to manufacture and export food | FSSAI Central Licensing Authority |
| i-CAS Halal certification | Halal conformity of facility and consignment for notified exports | NABCB-accredited certification body |
| ISO 22000 or similar | Effectiveness of the food safety management system | Accredited certification body |
| Test reports | Conformity of a specific sample to standards | NABL-accredited, FSSAI-notified laboratory |
| RCMC | Registration with the relevant export promotion council | APEDA or the relevant council |
| Import export code | Eligibility to import and export | DGFT |
Buyers in halal markets commonly ask for several of these together. Building one combined audit calendar across the food safety and halal schemes avoids paying for overlapping audits of the same plant.
Why choose Arjun Filings for halal certificate?
Arjun Filings runs halal certificate as a checklist-first engagement: a qualified CA or CS scopes the work, tells you exactly which documents are needed, and reviews every form before it is signed and submitted. You get a named specialist, a status update at each stage, and a compliance calendar for whatever comes next.
- End-to-end help for halal certificate
- Department-ready document pack
- Application tracking updates
- Renewal calendar starter