The share of Iran in the 2-trillion-dollar Halal market stands at $5 million to $6 million, according to Abolhussein Fakhari, the secretary general of Global Halal Institute. Fkhari told IRNA on Friday that the figure suggests that the country has not been able to obtain a fair share of the world trade of halal products, while the majority of Iranians are Muslim and 100 percent of the country’s food consumption and products are Halal. The official noted that Iran currently has almost no share in this big food market. “A 10 percent of the total halal market, means $200 billion,” Fakhari said. He complained about the lack of a tax break as the main reason behind the low rate of halal exports. The Iranian halal food market is expected to be worth $1.6 trillion globally, by 2018. With an average growth rate of 6.9 percent a year, the halal food market cannot simply be ignored, Fakhari said. Derived from the holy Quran, the word ‘halal’ literally means ‘lawful’ or ‘acceptable’. Products like swine or pork and its bi-products, and animals that are not properly slaughtered or die before slaughtering are not considered halal in Islam.
