World Halal Food Council (WHFC) Certification

/ Tue, 08/04/2026 - 21:26

I. Official Basic Definition

Full Name: World Halal Food Council, abbreviated as WHFC. It was later renamed WHC (World Halal Council). Both names and logos are used in parallel.

1. Establishment Time

Established in 1999 and initiated in Jakarta, Indonesia. The founding institution was Indonesia’s long-established LPPOM MUI. Its administrative hubs are located in the United States and the Netherlands. It is a global alliance organization of Halal certification bodies, rather than a regulatory authority of a single national government.

2. Core Positioning

It is an industry federation of third-party Halal certificate-issuing bodies from countries around the world. Its core functions are to unify global Halal audit criteria, establish a certificate mutual-recognition system among member countries, formulate the WHFC Halal Code of Conduct, and connect with official regulatory authorities in Islamic countries.

3. Implemented Standards

The underlying basis is the Quran plus the international Halal specifications of the OIC/SMIIC Islamic standardization organization, supplemented by the internally compiled WHFC Global Halal Certification Operation Manual.

II. WHFC Certification Scope

1. Scope of Admission Recognition for Member Institutions

WHFC audits and authorizes various Halal certificate-issuing bodies (HCBs) worldwide, authorizing them to conduct audits across the following full range of categories:

Food processing, livestock and poultry slaughtering, food additives, daily chemical and cosmetic products, pharmaceutical raw materials, feed, warehousing and logistics, catering and hotels, and packaging contact materials.

2. Full Product Scope for Which Factories May Apply for Certification

(WHFC certificates are issued by member institutions)

Permitted Certification Categories

  1. Food products: Meat products, aquatic products, grains and oils, beverages, dairy products, condiments, baked goods and confectionery, snack foods, frozen prepared foods.
  2. Food ingredients: Edible gelatin, flavors and fragrances, enzyme preparations, compound additives, premixes.
  3. Daily chemical and personal-care products: Skincare products, shampoos, body washes, facial masks, cosmetics (with control over animal-derived collagen, cattle and sheep fats, and ethanol content).
  4. Pharmaceuticals and health supplements: Capsule shells, pharmaceutical excipients, raw materials for traditional Chinese medicine.
  5. Supporting business operations: Halal slaughterhouses, central kitchens, temperature-controlled storage, cold-chain transportation, and Halal canteens.
  6. Pet food and animal feed.

Products Absolutely Prohibited from Certification

(Haram prohibited products)

Pork and all pork derivatives, blood, animals that died naturally, ferocious beasts and birds of prey, poisonous snakes and insects;

Drinking alcohol exceeding the limit and intoxicating raw materials;

Livestock and poultry not slaughtered in accordance with Islamic rules;

Any raw material ingredient defined as impure (Najis).

III. Application Requirements

(Two Types of Applicants)

Domestic Manufacturing Enterprises → Apply to WHFC Member Institutions for WHFC Halal Certificates

General Mandatory Eligibility Requirements

  1. The enterprise must have complete legal licenses and qualifications, including a business license, SC food production license, cosmetic product filing, hygiene permit, and other lawful production qualifications;
  2. The product formula must be 100% compliant: no porcine-derived ingredients, prohibited animal ingredients, or alcohol exceeding the limit. All animal-derived raw materials must be supported by valid upstream Halal certificates;

  3. Physical segregation of production workshops and warehouses:

    For shared production lines, a complete deep-cleaning SOP for production line changeovers must be established, and cleaning records must be retained; Halal raw materials and finished products must be stored separately from non-Halal materials to prevent cross-contamination;

  4. The enterprise must appoint an internal Halal control officer, prepare a written Halal Management Procedure Manual, and provide all employees with training on Halal control requirements;
  5. Cooperation with audits: document review plus on-site factory inspection. The audit team may conduct on-site sampling and testing for porcine DNA, ethanol, and prohibited animal ingredients;
  6. Only the logo of the issuing member institution plus the WHFC mark may be printed on packaging. The WHFC mark must not be printed without authorization.

IV. Complete List of Materials Required for Enterprise Application for a WHFC Certificate

1. Basic Corporate Qualification Documents

  1. WHFC standard certification application form (completed in English and affixed with the company’s official seal);
  2. Business license with an officially sealed Chinese-English translation;
  3. Production licenses, filing certificates, pollutant discharge permits, and other industry qualifications;
  4. Overall factory layout plan: raw-material warehouse, production workshop, packaging-material area, finished-product warehouse, cleaning and disinfection areas, with Halal segregation boundaries marked.

2. Core Product Technical Documents

  1. List of products applying for certification, brands, specifications and models, and export destination countries;
  2. Complete and detailed formulation table: full names of all raw materials, auxiliary materials, and additives; CAS numbers; and supplier names;
  3. Complete production process flow, with Halal risk control points and cleaning points for process changeovers marked;
  4. Product specifications and outer packaging artwork (for review of logo layout).

3. Raw Material Traceability and Compliance Evidence

(Key Audit Focus)

  1. Valid Halal certificates from upstream suppliers for all animal-derived raw materials;
  2. For high-risk materials such as gelatin, emulsifiers, compound flavorings, and glycerol: COA quality inspection reports and Safety Data Sheets;
  3. A company-sealed Halal Compliance Self-Declaration, undertaking that the formula contains no prohibited ingredients.

4. Internal Halal System Documents

  1. Halal Quality Management Manual;
  2. Procedures for raw-material acceptance upon warehousing, production control, and finished-product traceability upon outbound delivery;
  3. Work instructions for production-line changeover cleaning and disinfection;
  4. Appointment document for the Halal responsible person, employee training attendance records, and assessment records.

5. Supplementary Supporting Documents

ISO22000, HACCP, and GMP system certificates; third-party animal-derived DNA and alcohol testing reports.