Nippon Asia Halal Association
Document Name
Doc ref: NQP-10
Prepared byProcedure for Certificate Issue, Suspension, Withdrawal and Renewal
Issue: 01
Revision: 00
Date: 10/01/2022
Page 1 of 8
Technical Manager
Approved by Certification Manager

1.0

PurposeTo describe a procedure for granting or refusing certification, expanding or reducing thescope of certification, Cancelling, suspending or restoring certification, withdrawing
certification or renewing certification.

2.0

Scope
This procedure covers overall activity for certificate issue, suspension and withdrawal ofcertificate; expanding or reducing the scope of certification and renewal of the certification
for all types of certification activities carried out by NAHA.

3.0
3.1

Responsibility
All certificates will be reviewed by technical manager and approved by Director /certification manager prior to issue. The Technical manager / Operation Manager is
responsible to issue the certificate to the customer. CM/TM is authorized to communicate
to the customer regarding Certification / Halal Islamic affairs committee’s decision on
granting or refusing certification; expanding or reducing the scope of certification;
withdrawal or restoring certification and renewal of the certification.

4.0
4.1
4.1.1

Description of Activity
Receipt and Review of Audit Report
The audit team leader is responsible for submission of audit report documents, which will
include at least the audit report, non-conformances, if any, identified during the audit,
corrective action plans submitted by the customer along with the evidence/s in case of major
non-conformances; assessor notes etc.
The audit reports are reviewed at multiple steps detailed below:

4.1.2

Step-01: includes an administrative review in which, the submitted set of documents arereviewed for completeness by the Technical Manager. A deviation note (N/33) will be issued
to the team leader if he/she finds any variation / deviation in the completeness of the
documents during the review. The documents along with the deviation note and the response
from the team leader will be forwarded to the Certification / halal Islamic affairs committee
for the technical review and decision-making process.
Step-02: includes a technical review, in which the member of the Certification / Halal
Islamic affairs committee responsible for the technical review of the report. The technicalreviewer shall not be the one who was part of the particular audit. The technical / halal
Islamic affairs review will cover at least:• Confirm that the information provided by the audit team is sufficient with respect tocertification requirements and the scope of certification;• The details of the non-conformities, if any, identified during the audit and thecorrections and corrective actions taken by the client, if applicable.
• In case of any major non-conformities, the audit team has reviewed, accepted andverified the correction and corrective actions;• Confirm that the audit objectives have been achieved
This document is the property of Nippon Asia Halal Association. No corrections / amendments are to bemade except by the person authorized. The holder to return the manual when he leaves the organization orwhen he has no further use for it.

Nippon Asia Halal Association
Document Name
Doc ref: NQP-10
Prepared byProcedure for Certificate Issue, Suspension, Withdrawal and Renewal
Issue: 01
Revision: 00
Date: 10/01/2022
Page 2 of 8
Technical Manager
Approved by Certification Manager

If any deviations from the above stated are identified during the step-02, the technicalreviewer shall issue a deviation note (N-33) to the audit team leader and response is sought.
In case, where additional information’s are required, which is inevitable to make a decision
with regards to the certification; the technical reviewer may contact the audit team leader
and/or the respective audit team member for further clarifications. On completion of thetechnical review, the report shall be presented in the certification committee for a decisionmaking process as detailed in Step-03.
Step-03: Includes decision making process by certification / halal Islamic affairscommittee. Based on the outcome of the administrative and technical / halal Islamic affairs
expert; decision will be taken by the committee members. In the event of conflict ofdecision between the members of the committee; an additional member from the pool ofthe members for certification committee shall be added, who is competent in the particular
scheme under review, and the decision is put for voting. On decision which received the
majority of vote shall be considered as the final decision of the Certification / halal Islamic
affairs committee, which will be informed to the CM/TM to communicate to the customer.
In case of routine surveillance audit reports, it may not be required to be reviewed by the
Certification/ HIA Committee, except where the Audit team leader has identified major
non-conformities which may lead to the suspension or withdrawal; expanding or reductionof the scope etc. In all such cases, the reports shall be reviewed by the Technical Manager
and/or the technical member, where the technical manager was involved in the audit
process. During the decision making by the Certification / HIA committee, factors such ascomplaints received against the customer, media reports; changes in the scope; newregulations or requirements; etc are also taken into consideration. The committee alongwith the approval shall indicate the date of commencement of the certification and its
validity period.
Halal certification the decision-making process by certification / HIA committee includes
three members which including an Islamic affairs expert. Based on the outcome of theadministrative and technical / HIA review; decision will be taken by the HIA committee
members, the decision will be taken unanimously, not by majority of votes.
Step-04: Based on the outcome of the Step-03; if a new certificate needs to be issued, the
TM/Operation Manager will prepare the certificate (Refer Clause 4.2) and forwarded to the
Director / CM for review. A Draft copy of the certificate is also forwarded to the customer
for verification. Upon getting the confirmation, the original certificate will be prepared andissued to the customer with the approval of the Director / Certification Manager. All
certificates will be issued along with the procedure for use of certificate and certification
mark and acknowledgement on receipt of the certificate and the procedure by the customer
is maintained in the respective customer file.
Along with the issue of the Certificate, the TM/Operation Manager will update the client
database as per the latest certificate details.
4.2

Certificate Preparation and Issue

This document is the property of Nippon Asia Halal Association. No corrections / amendments are to bemade except by the person authorized. The holder to return the manual when he leaves the organization orwhen he has no further use for it.

Nippon Asia Halal Association
Document Name
Doc ref: NQP-10
Prepared byProcedure for Certificate Issue, Suspension, Withdrawal and Renewal
Issue: 01
Revision: 00
Date: 10/01/2022
Page 3 of 8
Technical Manager
Approved by Certification Manager

4.2.1

Certificates are issued to clients following initial audit, extension or reduction to accredited
scope, triennial audit, or change in company details (name, address etc). Prior to prepare
the certification document, the person needs to check reference documents like N_43 Basiccertificate information to understand and confirm the customer and certification detils
which is specified in the document. In case of significant changes the information incertification agreement and contract review has to be verified before the preparation ofcertificate.Once the certification document prepared which is forwared to Director /certifiation manager reivew and approval/ signature. Director / Certifiation manager needs
to verify the prepared certifiate which is based on the NAHA accreditation scope approval/ serivice areas / certifiation coverded geographical locations, final audit report (Stage -2 /verification audit / final audit or inspection) decision followed with the reference of
documents like N_43 Basic certifiate information, Certification agreement and Contract
Review.

4.2.2

Each certificate issued by NAHA will carry a unique certificate number of the format asfollows:
The 18-character Alpha-Numeric Unique Certification Number is proposed as below:
1 2 3 4 5
Certificate number(00000)6
7 8 9
Accreditation
number(0000)

10 11 12 13 14
Scheme Digit(Initial first two
letters of thestandard / scheme)(eg. HALAL – HA)

15

16 17
Year
(0000)

18

4.2.3

In case of re-certification; the initial certification date will be reflected in the certificate.
The initial certification date will be applicable only when there is no gap between the initialcertification expiry date and the re-certification date.

4.2.4

In case of Multi-site certifications (Not applicable for Halal Certifcation) operating acommon system with the same scope of certification, all the addresses on the client
locations, which are certified is included in the certificate. The client may request forindividual certificate for each site or in case where the scope of activities at each location
is different, in such cases, the serial number in the certificate shall be appended with ‘/1’
for the 1st site, ‘/2’ for the second site and so on.

4.2.5

Customers may have integrated system where certificates for multiple standards are issued,in such cases separate certificates are issued for each of the standard.

4.2.6

Once the Certification Decision has been made by the Certification / HIA Committee, nomember has the authority to change the decision unless the decision is appealed formally inThis document is the property of Nippon Asia Halal Association. No corrections / amendments are to bemade except by the person authorized. The holder to return the manual when he leaves the organization orwhen he has no further use for it.

Nippon Asia Halal Association
Document Name
Doc ref: NQP-10
Prepared byProcedure for Certificate Issue, Suspension, Withdrawal and Renewal
Issue: 01
Revision: 00
Date: 10/01/2022
Page 4 of 8
Technical Manager
Approved by Certification Manager

the Appeal Committee. The decision of the appeal committee will be binding to all themembers as well as the customers.
4.2.7

One original of the signed certificate is sent to the client at his address or any other address
specifically requested by the customer. Additional copies of the certificates may be issued
depending on the contract agreement.

4.2.8

The certificate shall only be issued to authorized representative of the client unless the client
has requested in writing to hand over to another representative.

4.2.9

Along with the issue of the certificate, the following document/s shall be submitted to thecustomer. The cover letter shall indicate all the attachments and acknowledgement of receipt
from the client representative is obtained.
•••

Covering Letter
Certificate (Original)
Additional certificate
requested)••copies(if

Customer Satisfaction Survey Form
NQP-11 - Procedure for certificate andlogo usage.

4.2.10A copy of the certificate together with all other documents supporting the approval anddecision making will be maintained in

4.3

Change in Certificate

4.3.1

The client may request for change in certificate. This may be due to –v Change in ownershipv Change in name of the company
v Change in locationv Increase or decrease in scope (products, services offered etc.)
v Increase or decrease in locations (opening / closing of site etc.)

4.3.2

Client may request for change in certificate or reduction / expansion in scope to CM/Technical Manager. CM/Technical Manager will review the request and decide for a special
audit if the next audit is not due in near future or if the next audit cannot be proposed.
Technical Manager also determines if the changed scope is within accreditation scope of
NAHA.

4.3.3

The duration for the special visit shall be decided by CM/Technical Manager andcommunicated to the client. The lead auditor submits a descriptive report detailing thechanges, justification for reduction / expansion of scope and review of the impact of change
in the scope (use of logos etc.)

4.4

Suspension and Withdrawal or Cancellation of Certificates

This document is the property of Nippon Asia Halal Association. No corrections / amendments are to bemade except by the person authorized. The holder to return the manual when he leaves the organization orwhen he has no further use for it.

Nippon Asia Halal Association
Document Name
Doc ref: NQP-10
Prepared byProcedure for Certificate Issue, Suspension, Withdrawal and Renewal
Issue: 01
Revision: 00
Date: 10/01/2022
Page 5 of 8
Technical Manager
Approved by Certification Manager

4.4.1

This instruction covers suspension procedures through withdrawal or cancellation of thecertification certificate and revision of the register of approved firms.
• Grounds for action are brought to the attention of the Certification Manager / TechnicalManager, who reviews the information and forward to the Certification / HIA
Committee for appropriate decision.
• If the committee agrees with the decision of the audit team; the customer shall be
notified in writing for an immediate correction / corrective action to prevent asuspension / withdrawal of the certificate. Specific time period (usually 7 days, may be
reduced to extended depending on the criticality, nature of the problem identified) is
allocated for the customer to respond with the detailed correction and corrective actions
taken.
• The affectivity of the actions taken by the customer shall be verified, if required onsite,
the report shall be submitted to the Certification / HIA Committee to withdraw thedecision of suspension.
• If the customer has not positively responded to the notification within the allocatedtime period; the committee will proceed with the decision of suspension of thecertificate and shall inform the same to the client in writing. The suspension normallywill be for a period of 7 days, within which customer is advised to take all the necessary
corrections and corrective actions.
• The customer is also advised to avoid using the certificate or certification logo in anyof the advertisements, or on labeling during the period of suspension.
• In the event of customer responding within the specified time period with the detailed
corrections and corrective actions; the effectiveness of the actions shall be verified andconfirmed by the audit team, if required, through on-site assessment.
• The recommendations of the audit team are forwarded to the Certification / HIA
Committee, who shall review the evidences and take appropriate decision. The
authority to resume the certification rests with the Certification / HIA Committee.
• Where in case the customer has not responded positively to the suspension notification
and/or has not effectively implemented the corrective actions within the time frame;
the certificate shall be withdrawn with immediate effect. The customer will be notifiedof the decision of withdrawal and advise the customer to return all the original copiesof the certificates; refrain from using the certificate or certification mark / logo.
• Once the certificate has been withdrawn; the client needs to re-apply for certification
which shall follow the same procedure as that of initial certification.
• In the event of withdrawal or cancellation of the certificate; NAHA, if required will
publish the details of the certification cancelled through its website. The customer shallbe removed from the list of the certified customers.

4.4.2

The following reason/s are considered grounds for suspension or cancellation:• Major non-conformance(s) or effective corrective action not implemented within a
specified time period.

This document is the property of Nippon Asia Halal Association. No corrections / amendments are to bemade except by the person authorized. The holder to return the manual when he leaves the organization orwhen he has no further use for it.

Nippon Asia Halal Association
Document Name
Doc ref: NQP-10
Prepared byProcedure for Certificate Issue, Suspension, Withdrawal and Renewal
Issue: 01
Revision: 00
Date: 10/01/2022
Page 6 of 8
Technical Manager
Approved by Certification Manager•

Improper use of the certificate, symbol or logo not remedied to the satisfaction of
NAHA
Client ceases to supply product or service of the certified quality system for an extended
period of time.
Client’s certified management system has persistently failed to meet any of therequirements for certification including requirements for the effectiveness of the
management system.
Client fails to meet financial obligations to NAHA
Client makes a formal request to withdraw certification.
Infringement by the client of any contractual conditions between the client and NAHA
Client is unable or unwilling to ensure conformance to revisions of standards.
Existence of a serious complaint, or a large number of second- or third-party
complaints, which indicate that the quality management system is not being
maintained.
Client does not allow routine surveillance to be conducted at the required frequency.

•
•
•
•
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4.4.3

The suspension or cancellation can be initiated if the client does not allow the routine
surveillance to be conducted at the required frequency. The routine surveillance is carriedout not more than 12 months from the last audit. In case the audit is not done within 12
months (13 months in case of yearly surveillance), the certificate is suspended, and a letteris sent to the client requesting him to agree for the audit. In case of a delay up to 3 months(15 months from the last audit), the audit time will be extended by 50% of the routine
surveillance time (at least 1 man-day). Successful completion of the audit within 15 months
shall not impact the certification.
In case the audit is not done within 15 months, the certificate is cancelled, and the client
shall be considered as a fresh case for certification.
The above are for special conditions like strike, natural calamities, business operations(case to case basis) etc.

4.5

Conditions for Suspension or Cancellation of Client Certification*

4.5.1

Subject to actions by the client, the following steps will be taken leading to possible
suspension or cancellation of the client's certification:• Unless a reply is received to the letter accompanying notification within 7 days,
certification will be suspended, and a notification of suspension may be published at
the discretion of NAHA
• The client's response to the accompanying letter will be reviewed and the proceedings
may be put on hold while clarification is sought.
• Where mutually agreed-upon corrective action is to be implemented, a time period for
implementation will be specified and a review of the corrective action undertaken at

This document is the property of Nippon Asia Halal Association. No corrections / amendments are to bemade except by the person authorized. The holder to return the manual when he leaves the organization orwhen he has no further use for it.

Nippon Asia Halal Association
Document Name
Doc ref: NQP-10
Prepared by

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4.6

Procedure for Certificate Issue, Suspension, Withdrawal and Renewal
Issue: 01
Revision: 00
Date: 10/01/2022
Page 7 of 8
Technical Manager
Approved by Certification Manager
the appointed time. This may be the subject of a special surveillance visit or of review
of submitted objective evidence, at the discretion of NAHA the corrective action not
be considered adequate or not be completed by the appointed time, certification will be
automatically suspended.
In the case of serious circumstances, NAHA may invoke suspension during the period
pending the implementation of corrective action.
Where suspension has been invoked, unless otherwise specified, the client must advise
NAHA every 7 days of the current situation of corrective action. Failure to meet thisrequirement will result in cancellation of the client's certification.
Where suspension has been invoked due to failure to conduct surveillance audit, theclient shall give justification for failure and offer suitable date. An additional man-day
shall be added to routine surveillance days. The date shall not be later than 15 months
from last audit. Failure to offer for audit within 15 months will result in cancellation ofcertification.
When corrective action to resolve the problem(s) taken by the client has been verified,certification will be resumed. The period of certification will not be revised to cover
the period of suspension.
Cancellation of certification will be invoked where, following suspension ofcertification, the client fails to respond to NAHA communications within the 7 days
grace period or fails to implement corrective action within the appointed time period.
In extreme circumstances NAHA may invoke the cancellation of certification withimmediate effect without recourse to initial certification suspension.
Cancellation of certification will require the client to assume the status of non-approval
and return all certification documentation to NAHA
Use of certification documents, symbols, or logos by the client following certification
cancellation may result in legal action being taken against the client.
Re-approval after certification cancellation will be on the same basis, and follow thesame process, as that of initial application for a new client. This will require a full
assessment, with optional document review at the discretion of NAHA
The de-certification will be published as a separate list and will be available at the
NAHA office and made available upon request.
The client has the right to appeal any decisions of NAHA and a copy of the appeals
procedures will be made available upon request.
AE shall remove the companies where the certificate has been cancelled. Duringsuspension, suspension remark shall be placed in the registered of approved firms.
The client files for all cancelled cases will be archived for a period of 3 months and thendestroyed.

Reduction in Scope of Certificates Issued
NAHA will wherever applicable reduce the scope of certification if during the time ofroutine surveillance audits / Re approval or Renewal audits it finds that the certified client

This document is the property of Nippon Asia Halal Association. No corrections / amendments are to bemade except by the person authorized. The holder to return the manual when he leaves the organization orwhen he has no further use for it.

Nippon Asia Halal Association
Document Name
Doc ref: NQP-10
Prepared byProcedure for Certificate Issue, Suspension, Withdrawal and Renewal
Issue: 01
Revision: 00
Date: 10/01/2022
Page 8 of 8
Technical Manager
Approved by Certification Manager

has continually / seriously failed to meet the certification requirements for those parts ofthe scope of certification. The reduction in scope will be approved by the Certification /HIACommittee.
Note: NAHA will inform government legal bodies (eg. GSO / SFDA / MoIAT / local Govt.
authority) in case of certificate suspension, withdrawal and cancellation for HALAL
certifications. The communication mode will be email/any other possible mode by CM/TM.
5.0 Reference
5.1
ISO/IEC 17021 - Conformity Assessment - Requirements for Bodies Providing Audit andCertification of Management Systems;
5.2
ISO/IEC 17065 - Conformity Assessment - Requirements for Bodies Certifying Products,
Processes and Services;
5.3
ISO/IEC 17020 - Conformity Assessment - Requirements for the operation of various typesof bodies performing inspection;
5.4
GSO 2055-2 & UAE.S 2055-2 - Halal Products - Part Two: General Requirements for Halal
Certification Bodies;
5.5
ISO 19011 - Guidelines for Management Systems Auditing;
5.0 Enclosure
Nil
6.0 Formats / Exhibits
7.1
N/29 - Decision about Certificate Suspending
7.2
P/30 - Decision on Validity Renovation of Suspended Certificate
7.3
P/33 - Deviation Note
7.4
P/34 - Customer Satisfaction Survey Form
7.5
List of Registered Companies (Approved Firms / Withdrawn Firms / Suspended Firms)
7.6
NQP-11 – Usage of certificate and logo
7.7
Draft Certificate Formats

This document is the property of Nippon Asia Halal Association. No corrections / amendments are to bemade except by the person authorized. The holder to return the manual when he leaves the organization orwhen he has no further use for it.