According to USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, Halal meat products "must be handled according to Islamic law and under Islamic authority." [1]
Canada’s agriculture department, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, gives more explicit guidelines for halal slaughter:
- the slaughter plant must be under close and constant supervision of a Halal Certifier;
- the slaughterers must be mature and pious Muslims of sound mind who understand fully the fundamentals and conditions relating to Halal slaughter;
- for a foreign slaughter plant, the slaughterers must be Muslims duly authorized by the law of that country to slaughter animals according to the Syariah Law;
- the animals must be alive in normal condition when slaughtered;
- the premises, machinery and equipment must be cleansed according to the Syariah Law;
- all slaughtering devices must be of good quality and sharp and they must not be made from bones, fingernails, toenails or teeth;
- facilities must be available for rinsing the knife after each slaughter;
- when slaughtering, the respiratory tract ('halqum') and the channel for taking in food and water ('mari') must be cut off according to the Syariah Law;
- the phrase 'In the name of Allah' (Bismillah) must be called forth during slaughtering of the animal;
- if stunning is used during the slaughtering process, stunning must result in the animal being temporarily unconscious;the stunner must be a type which cannot penetrate or break the animal's head;and it must not cause permanent brain damage or give rise to death or physical disability to the animal;
- the animal must be completely dead before skinning takes place;
- Muslim workers must be present at the time of removal and separation of the organs of the slaughtered animals;
- the halal meat shall be kept separately from non-halal meat at all times, in every slaughtering plant place for storage, packing, during transportation, importation and during sale. [2]
A Halal Certifier inspects halal plants to make sure they follow these guidelines.