England's West Midlands to benefit from halal meat export opportunity

Farmers in England's West Midlands could soon benefit from a multi-million pound halal meat export business.

The region is poised to become the European hub of an industry that could see regional farmers supplying thousands of tonnes of halal meat per year to worldwide Muslim communities.

Livestock producers in West Midlands' Worcestershire and Herefordshire could tap into new markets for halal meat in the EU and the Middle East following the approval of the UK's first ''farm-to-fork'' traceability system.

This could help open up major opportunities in the global market for halal meat products, after farmers had suffered from animal diseases and restrictions on sales abroad, said Michael Oakes, a boar member for rural affairs at Advantage West Midlands.

British Muslims currently make up about 3 percent of the UK population but they consume 20 percent of all red meat sold in the country, Oakes said, pointing out that halal meat is increasingly being bought in supermarket chains and other outlets by non-Muslims.

There are two million Muslims in the UK but six million consumers of halal meat, which points to a major business opportunity for local livestock farmers, Oakes added.

The new tagging and online certification system, pioneered in the West Midlands, is designed to meet strict halal guarantee demands required by Muslim holy law and covers animal welfare, animal husbandry, livestock transport, halal slaughter and food processing.

The UK halal market is worth about GBP2.8 billion (US$4 billion).