Punjab Halal Development Agency (PHDA)

The Punjab Halal Development Agency (PHDA) is a statutory agency of the Government of Punjab in Pakistan, established under the Punjab Halal Development Agency Act 2016 and headquartered in Lahore. Unlike private certifiers, PHDA is a body corporate created by provincial legislation. Its mandate covers formalising the halal sector through certification, halal business promotion, capacity building, and a compliance regime for halal food safety standards, alongside the broader goal of positioning Pakistan as a halal hub in the global market.

Under its founding Act, the agency develops procedures and auditing systems for implementing halal standards, issues halal product certificates and licences for approved facilities, oversees the certification of inspection bodies, and maintains the provincial register of halal approved bodies. Its core service is halal audit and certification, in which auditors verify a company’s implementation of a halal management system before its products or services are certified as halal. The agency also provides training, including instruction for butchers on halal slaughtering standards.

PHDA is accredited by the Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) under PS 4992, the Pakistan Standard setting requirements for bodies providing halal certification, which is based on OIC/SMIIC 2. It is described as the only public sector halal certification body in Pakistan holding PNAC accreditation. Following an audit by JAKIM, PHDA was registered as a recognised halal certification body for Pakistan on the Malaysian authority’s list, and it is also approved by the Halal Accreditation Council of Sri Lanka, supporting Punjab based exporters seeking access to international halal markets.