The Philippines may soon export poultry products to the United Arab Emirates, the Agriculture Department said over the weekend.

“We are just waiting for the finalization of the accreditation of Halal [food]. If we need to lobby that to their Ministry of Agriculture then we will do it. That is the only thing we are waiting for, because we are bird-flu free, so we have an advantage,” Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said.

Halal food refers to food items that are allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines.

Alcala said the agency was looking at exporting all kinds of chicken products to UAE.

“If we can export the whole chicken, then good. We can also export chicken cuts.  There won’t be a problem with that,” he said.

“We will try to finish the accreditation as soon as possible because once our Halal [exports] will be allowed in UAE, they can also send that to Oman as well as other countries in the Middle East,” Alcala said.

The DA chief said the Philippines had already passed the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements imposed by UAE.

“The processing plants of San Miguel already passed. Because we have to remember that the slaughterhouses where we will source the products have halal pre-qualification also,” he said.

*This article was published on 10 February 2014 by Manila Standard Today. Read the original article here.