Yes, it is a very large market in any region of the world, initially in the food area and currently already being seen also in the cosmetic. Developed initially for the Islamic community, but is spreading rapidly due to good production and marketing practices.
Yes, I have heard of halal processed food and product exhibitions or conferences. Halal processed food and products are also common in our country. I do not know detailed about the validity of certificates, but I believe that the importance of Halal processed food and product will be increasingly important.
Halal has got other meaning that it is permissible and I have been served Halal certified food as vegetarian in flight of ANA from Tokyo. Halal certified products may be pure vegetarian
Yes, there are plenty of halal conferences around the world. Most of them are hold in Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey…
https://globalhalalsphere2019.com/
http://whc.hdcglobal.com/2019/
http://www.globalhalalsummit.my/
https://submit.confbay.com/conf/inhac2019
Just to mention few..
The halal market is huge and many European companies as well as North American products are halal certified. The reason is that, no product can enter the Indonesian or Malaysian market without being certified. More and more other Muslim countries are applying this principle regarding the import of food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.
The halal certification is not limited for meat only, as it is though! But it concerns all the processed foods.
There are many halal certifying bodies (private companies in Europe and Public organization like the case of Indonesia, Malaysia…). However, there is a strict control of those bodies and people have to make sure that these certifying bodies are recognized by the major South Asian public certifying bodies.
There are plenty of private companies in Europe that are specialized in halal certification, but few of them are recognized among them HCS in Switzerland.
There is a plenty of scientific literature regarding the halal certification for those of you who want to know more.
The new growing halal certification domain concerns tourism.
The halal market weight several billion Dollars around the World.