Malaysia will consider reviewing the suspension of imports of meat and meat products from New Zealand if the latter complies with proper halal principles in its meat production, a senior official said Monday.

In this context, Malaysia will send an inspection team to visit seven beef abattoirs in New Zealand from April 19 to 28 at the request of relevant authorities in that country, Malaysian Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Muhyiddin made the remarks at a seminar on halal concept in Wellington, New Zealand, the national news agency Bernama reported.

He suggested that New Zealand authorities should ensure that the country's meat and meat products comply with halal standards and procedures.

"Sharing this responsibility would contribute towards continuous market entry into Malaysia and other Muslim countries," the minister was quoted as saying.

Malaysia has suspended the import of meat products from New Zealand since 2005 as the thoracic sticking and electric immobilization used during slaughtering process by abattoirs in New Zealand violated the halal procedures approved earlier by Malaysia's National Fatwa (Edicts) Council.

The council, however, recently ruled as allowable the slaughter of animals using the thoracic sticking procedure subject to certain requirements.