Halal certification for animal feed rests on two feed-specific standards: GSO 2578:2021 "Halal feedstuff", approved on 1 July 2021 for the Gulf, and OIC/SMIIC 23:2022 for OIC member states. Malaysia's JAKIM runs no feed scheme, so the route for a feed mill depends on which market buys the feed and the animals raised on it.
This guide is for feed mills, premix and additive producers, integrated poultry and livestock groups, and feed exporters to the GCC, Malaysia, Indonesia and other OIC markets.
Which standards set halal requirements for animal feed?
The GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) publishes GSO 2578:2021, titled "Halal feedstuff". Its store page lists it as a Gulf Technical Regulation, Edition 1, approved on 1 July 2021. Its scope covers the production, preparation, distribution, transport and storage of halal feedstuff for animals that produce food for humans.
The Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries (SMIIC) publishes OIC/SMIIC 23:2022, "Feeding Stuffs for Halal Animals, General Requirements". SMIIC announced its publication in March 2023 and calls it the first standard of its kind in the OIC. It covers every stage of feed preparation, from receiving, sorting and mixing to packaging, handling, transport and storage. It applies to any organisation, whatever its size.
Neither replaces the general halal food standards. GSO 2055-1:2015, Edition 2, approved on 5 November 2015, sets general requirements for halal food along the food chain. The feed standards carry the same thinking one step upstream, to what food-producing animals eat.
Why does feed matter to the halal status of meat, milk and eggs?
A halal certificate on chicken, beef, milk or eggs says something about the whole chain behind it. GSO 2578 ties its scope to animals that produce food for humans, which is the link a slaughterhouse or dairy customer cares about.
In practice, the pressure usually comes from the customer. An integrator or abattoir holding a halal certificate has to show its certifier where its inputs come from, and it passes that question to its feed supplier. A mill that can show approved materials, controlled production and clean records answers that question quickly.
Halal assurance is separate from feed safety. Schemes such as FAMI-QS deal with feed safety hazards, and our FAMI-QS guide explains that scheme. A mill often runs both and shares records such as supplier approval and traceability.
How do the requirements differ between the Gulf, the UAE, Malaysia, the OIC and Indonesia?
Each market has its own standard, its own authority and its own view of feed. The table sets out what each organisation's own site said in October 2026.
| Market | Feed-specific standard | Who sets the rules | Status of feed |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCC | GSO 2578:2021, Edition 1 | GSO. Each member state applies it nationally | Covered by a Gulf Technical Regulation on halal feedstuff |
| United Arab Emirates | GSO 2578:2021 as a Gulf regulation. UAE adoption: confirm with MoIAT | MoIAT, under Cabinet Resolution No. 10 of 2014 | Not listed as a National Halal Mark category. Check the certifier's registered scope |
| Malaysia | None | JAKIM, under its 2020 certification procedure manual | Not among JAKIM's nine certification schemes |
| OIC member states | OIC/SMIIC 23:2022 | SMIIC. It applies where a member state adopts it | Covered by a dedicated OIC standard |
| Indonesia | None found | BPJPH, under Law No. 33 of 2014 | Not named in the product groups made mandatory on 18 October 2024 |
For Indonesia, BPJPH's first mandatory phase covers food and beverages, raw materials and additives for food and beverages, and slaughter products and services. Feed is not on that list. Ask BPJPH before you assume a later phase includes or excludes your product.
Does JAKIM certify animal feed?
No. JAKIM's Manual Prosedur Pensijilan Halal Malaysia (Domestik) 2020 lists nine schemes. They are food and beverage products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food premises, consumer goods, logistics, slaughterhouses, contract manufacturing, and medical devices. Animal feed is not one of them.
JAKIM's own procedure page goes further. It lists fertilisers and animal feed among the applications that will not succeed. On JAKIM's own published procedures, a feed mill cannot obtain a Malaysian halal certificate for its feed.
Feed still matters in Malaysia. Slaughterhouses and food manufacturers certified by JAKIM still answer for the halal status of their inputs. If you supply them, ask what evidence they expect from you. Our MS 1500 guide covers Malaysia's general halal food standard.
How does halal feed certification work in the UAE?
The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) runs the UAE system for the control of halal products under Cabinet Resolution No. 10 of 2014. Establishments obtain halal certificates for their final products and raw materials from certification bodies registered by the ministry.
Each registered body needs accreditation from a body MoIAT accepts. Accreditation scopes published on MoIAT's site show bodies accredited to UAE.S 2055-2:2021, with categories such as food manufacturing and slaughter audited against UAE.S GSO 2055-1:2015 and UAE.S 993:2022.
MoIAT's halal page lists food and cosmetics as National Halal Mark categories. Feed is not listed separately. Before you engage a certifier for feed bound for the UAE, ask to see its accreditation scope and MoIAT registration, and check that feed is inside them. Our GSO 2055-2 guide explains how halal certification bodies are accredited and registered.
What must a feed mill control to keep feed halal?
The feed standards cover the chain from intake to dispatch. The controls below are AGS's practical reading of where halal status is usually lost in a mill. They are not quotations from GSO 2578 or OIC/SMIIC 23.
- Animal-origin materials: processed animal protein, fats, tallow and blood products need evidence of species and source before approval.
- Additives and premixes: vitamin carriers, coatings, emulsifiers, enzymes and amino acids can hide animal-derived inputs. Ask suppliers for specifications and halal evidence.
- Carry-over: a shared line that also runs non-halal formulations needs sequencing, flushing and cleaning rules, with records for each changeover.
- Silos and transport: bulk bins and trucks need a record of the previous load and the cleaning done before halal feed goes in.
- Formulation changes: a new material or recipe goes through halal review before the first batch.
- Supplier certificates: track expiry dates, because a lapsed certificate makes the material unapproved.
An auditor will usually test these by tracing one finished batch back to its material lots, supplier certificates, line and cleaning records, and the truck that delivered it. Internal halal audits, training records and committee minutes show the system runs between visits.
How AGS can help
AGS has four animal feed kits. Each is a set of editable Microsoft Word documents: a halal manual, procedures, forms, checklists and training material.
- GSO HAS - Animal Feed: 41 documents, with a GSO 2055-1 internal audit checklist.
- UAE.S HAS - Animal Feed: 39 documents, with GSO 2578:2021 and UAE.S 993 checklists.
- JAKIM HAS - Animal Feed: 36 documents, with an MS 1500:2019 and GSO 2578 checklist.
- Integrated HAS - Animal Feed (GSO, JAKIM, SJPH, SMIIC, UAE.S): 39 documents, with checklists per regime.
Frequently asked questions
Does halal feed only mean keeping pork out?
No. Both feed standards cover the whole chain from receiving to storage and transport. Contamination on shared lines and in trucks, hidden animal-derived additives and missing records can all break halal status.
Does GSO 2578 apply to pet food?
Its stated scope is feed for animals that produce food for humans. Pet food falls outside that wording, so check with your certifier if you make both.
Can one system cover feed sold to several markets?
One documented system can address several standards at once. Each market's certificate is still issued under its own rules, by a body that market recognises, so there is no single certificate valid everywhere.
Does buying documentation mean the mill will be certified?
No. Documents are a starting point. Certification depends on how the system is implemented and on the certification body's audit.
AGS provides independent documentation toolkits. This guide and the referenced kits are not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by GSO, SMIIC, MoIAT, JAKIM or BPJPH, and they do not guarantee any certification outcome.
Reviewed October 2026. Facts checked against the sources current at publication.
