Armenian Firm to Produce Halal Products in Iran's Aras FTZ

EghtesadOnline: An Armenian company will establish a halal meat production unit in Iran's Aras Free Economic Zone, Chairman of Armenian Chamber of Commerce Martin Sargsyan announced.

News ID: ۷۷۳۵۵۲

29 January 2017

On the sidelines of an Armenian-Iranian business meeting, Sargsyan said the slaughter of animals will be carried out in Armenia and the meat will be taken to Iran for manufacturing halal meat products and sausages. He said the company will be exempt from taxes and its access to Iranian market will be facilitated.

Sargsyan did not rule out the possibility of setting up other agricultural processing plants in Iran's free economic zone, including those for production of chocolate, ARKA news agency reported.

After the meeting of Armenian Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Emil Tarasyan with Abbas Qorbani from the Iranian Embassy in Yerevan, several offices will be opened in Armenia to assess the conformity of halal food products and facilitate their export to Iran, Financial Tribune reported.

Halal is an Arabic word meaning “permissible” or “lawful”, the opposite being “haram”, which means “forbidden” or “unlawful”. The two terms govern almost every aspect of Muslims’ lives, including food, clothing, banking and traveling.

In recent years, halal has evolved in meaning to encompass a range of hygienic and high-quality food products, cosmetics, personal care products, leather goods and food ingredients.

Under the definition proposed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1997, halal food incorporates not only production and processing procedures, but also the manpower, transport, storage and equipment used in different stages.