JAKIM Halal Certification and Recognised Bodies

Halal certification for Malaysia is the clearest example on this site of a requirement that cannot be satisfied after the fact. A certificate from the wrong body is not a weaker certificate; it is no certificate at all as far as Malaysian law is concerned.

Only a recognised body's certificate counts

The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, JAKIM, is the agency responsible for halal certification in Malaysia. It cannot inspect every overseas plant itself, so it appoints foreign halal certification bodies to act as its representatives in verifying halal status abroad, and recognition is based on whether a body complies with Malaysian procedures and guidelines.

The consequence is written into Malaysian law. Under the Trade Descriptions (Certification and Marking of Halal) Order 2011, imported food and goods marketed in Malaysia may not be described as halal unless they comply with the requirements or are certified by a foreign halal certification body recognised by JAKIM. The same order requires the importer or manufacturer to mark the name of that certification body on the goods.

So the recognised body's name is not a credential you keep in a file. It goes on the pack.

The obligation in the Order itself

JAKIM publishes the recognition list, but the obligation is in the Trade Descriptions (Certification and Marking of Halal) Order 2011 [P.U. (A) 431/2011], made under section 29 of the Trade Descriptions Act 2011 and in force since 1 January 2012. Three of its paragraphs decide what a Canadian exporter has to do.

Paragraph 5(1): all imported food and goods marketed in Malaysia shall not be described as halal unless they comply with the requirements in paragraph 4 or are certified as halal by a foreign halal certification body recognised by JAKIM as specified in the Second Schedule.

Paragraph 5(2): the importer or manufacturer of food certified by such a body shall mark on the food the name of that certification body.

Paragraph 6: food intended to be marked under paragraphs 4 and 5 shall be marked by affixing or annexing the logo specified in the First Schedule, or otherwise marking it on or incorporating it with, the food itself or anything in, on or with which the food is supplied.

So the certifying body's name and the logo are both pack-level obligations, and paragraph 5(2) puts the marking duty on the importer or manufacturer, not on the certifier. Somebody has to own it in your supply contract, and it is not JAKIM.

Paragraph 8 is where this stops being administrative. A supplier that markets food as halal in contravention of the Order faces a fine of up to two hundred thousand ringgit, and five hundred thousand for a second or subsequent offence. The duty sits on whoever supplies the food, which means a Canadian exporter cannot contract it onto its certifier or its importer.

For a person who is not a body corporate it is up to one hundred thousand ringgit or three years, and up to two hundred and fifty thousand ringgit or five years on repetition.

One structural point worth knowing. The Second Schedule is a gazetted list, amended by further orders: it has been amended repeatedly, most recently in August 2026, and as originally made on 29 December 2011 it named 53 bodies and included no Canadian one at all.

Recognition of the Canadian bodies is therefore something that was added, which is the same mechanism by which it can be removed. Work from JAKIM's current published list, and check it again before a renewal.

Two Canadian bodies are recognised

JAKIM's recognised body list names two certification bodies in Canada. They are set out below, read from the gazetted list rather than written into this paragraph, because the list is replaced by the next gazette and a name typed into prose does not notice when that happens.

If your product is certified by a Canadian body that is not one of these two, that certification does not carry into Malaysia, however reputable the body is domestically or however well the certificate serves you in another market. This is the single most expensive mistake available in this category, because it is usually discovered after the certification has been paid for.

Recognition is not permanent. An appointment runs for two years, the appointed body must submit an annual report to JAKIM, and JAKIM conducts a review audit when the appointment period expires. JAKIM has previously withdrawn recognition from foreign bodies. Check the current list, not a remembered one, and check it again before a renewal cycle.

Meat and poultry carry a further requirement

For meat and meat products including poultry, halal certification by a recognised body is necessary but not sufficient. The plants must also be inspected and approved by JAKIM together with the Department of Veterinary Services, in compliance with the Malaysian Protocol for Halal Meat and Poultry Productions and the MS 1500 standard.

That is a plant-level, government-to-government approval on top of the product certification, and it is the reason a Canadian meat establishment cannot simply obtain a halal certificate and begin shipping. It sits alongside the destination's approved-establishment listing, which for Malaysia is covered on the market page.

The order to do this in

Confirm which of the two recognised Canadian bodies suits your product and your plant before you engage anyone. For meat and poultry, understand that the JAKIM and Department of Veterinary Services plant approval is a separate and slower process and start it first, because the certificate is of no use while the plant is not approved.

And settle with your importer who is responsible for marking the certification body's name on the pack, since that obligation sits on the importer or manufacturer and not on the certifier.