Muslim Judicial Council Halaal Trust (MJCHT)

The Muslim Judicial Council Halaal Trust (MJCHT) is the halal certification arm of the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa, based in Athlone, Cape Town. A publication commissioned by the International Trade Centre in Geneva describes the MJCHT as the first and oldest halal regulatory body in the world, formed in 1945 to ensure that Islamic dietary laws are upheld for Muslims in South Africa. The trust itself notes more than 75 years of halal certification work and describes an evolution from an informal body into a formal regulatory authority.

The MJCHT certifies abattoirs, production and processing plants, food outlets, supermarkets, catering operations, airline food preparation plants, imports and exports, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, and logistics, storage and transportation services. Supporting services include import and export clearance certificates, product clearance, Islamic cleansing, halal consultation, and laboratory testing. The trust reports approximately 2,000 certified clients. Applications are handled during office hours from Monday to Friday, followed by administrative verification, payment of an annual fee, and issuance of the certificate.

In May 2024 the trust was accredited to ISO/IEC 17065:2012 by SANAS, the South African National Accreditation System, a step its leadership framed as a response to a rapidly evolving global halal certification landscape. The MJCHT maintains agreements and relations with more than 40 halal certification bodies worldwide, and its certification is acknowledged by authorities including JAKIM in Malaysia, MUIS in Singapore, and MUI in Indonesia, as well as bodies in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Australia, Pakistan, and India.