EU ban on Brazilian animal products could hit agro exports by $2 billion
The European Union will suspend imports of animal-origin products from Brazil starting Thursday, September 3, after saying the country failed to prove control over the use of antimicrobials in local production chains.
The EU ban on Brazilian animal products will apply to beef, poultry, eggs, honey and fish. The measure could affect nearly $2 billion in exports over one year.
Despite personal intervention by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and months of technical and diplomatic talks, the bloc has not softened its decision, announced in May, to remove Brazil from the list of countries authorized to sell those products to the EU.
The measure could interrupt Brazilian beef exports to Europe until 2028. For poultry, however, there is still hope that sales could resume later this year.
Why the EU is blocking imports
Europe bans the use of antimicrobials as growth promoters in animals, as well as the use of medicines also applied to treat human infections. The goal is to combat antimicrobial resistance and reduce the risk of so-called superbugs.
The EU decision to block the entry of food produced with the use of antimicrobials was made in 2019 and regulated in 2023.
Brazil was informed of the decision seven years ago, but failed to present control mechanisms in time to prove compliance with the requirements.
Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry has partly blamed the private sector for the lack of an earlier solution to meet the rules and for the absence of private control systems capable of segregating production destined for Europe. According to sources familiar with the matter, the expectation had been that enforcement would be postponed, which did not happen.
As a way to meet European requirements, Brazil presented a private protocol for antimicrobial-free cattle, approved by the Agriculture Ministry. The expectation was to obtain a transition period, avoiding an interruption in sales until broader compliance mechanisms were implemented.
The Europeans rejected that request.
As a result, meatpackers and farms have begun joining the protocol, but the practical effect is expected to take two years, the time between cattle birth and slaughter. Without the European customer until 2028, losses could reach $2 billion for beef processors alone.
Poultry chain under EU audit
The Brazilian government also adopted a new inspection procedure for the affected production chains starting July 1. In poultry, an additional layer of oversight was added.
That is what a European Union technical audit mission has been assessing in Brazil since last week. The mission’s itinerary also includes visits to exporters of honey and other bee products.
Brazil’s animal protein association ABPA said the European mission inspecting the Brazilian poultry production system is proceeding “satisfactorily.” The group said Brazil’s poultry sector “already fully complies with all requirements” set by the Europeans.
There is an expectation that the mission may approve the procedures and recommend that Brazil be reinstated on the exporter list to the European Commission’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, known as Scopaff. The committee could decide on the issue at a meeting in November.
The outlook for poultry is also less worrying because exporters increased sales to the EU in recent months, anticipating the bloc’s suspension. According to an industry source, European importers built stocks of Brazilian chicken that should be enough to cover at least September.
As a result, the interruption is not expected to have an immediate effect on shipments, since Europe will accept cargo certified in Brazil until September 2.
According to foreign trade data obtained by Datamar, Brazil exported 7,131 TEUs of chicken meat to the 27 European Union countries in the first half of 2026, nearly 50% more than in the same period a year earlier. The chart below shows the detailed monthly figures:
Chicken Meat Exports to the EU | H1 2022-2026 | TEUs
Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)
Brazil weighs retaliation
With the European barrier taking effect, Brazil may adopt reciprocity measures, including retaliation against European olive oil and dairy products. Brasília may also seek dispute-settlement mechanisms at the World Trade Organization and under the Mercosur-EU agreement.
Agriculture Minister André de Paula has described Brazil’s removal from the EU exporter list as “inadmissible” and has reiterated his belief that the country could return to the list later this year.
In recent interviews, he said the issue had become “diplomatic” and depended on a broader agreement involving President Lula, who sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asking for chicken and honey sales to be normalized.
For eggs and fish, the impact of the export suspension should be more limited. The European market has been open to Brazilian eggs only since April. Since then, Brazil has exported just 239 metric tons to the bloc.
Brazilian fish exports to the EU had already been suspended since 2018 because of the lack of a sanitary control system for vessels. In addition, the segment “has never used” antimicrobials, said Jairo Gund, executive director of Brazil’s fish industry association Abipesca.
Brazil’s Agriculture and Foreign Affairs ministries, contacted a week ago, did not respond. The Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, known as MDIC, said the matter falls under the responsibility of the Agriculture Ministry. The presidential palace did not comment.
The EU ban on Brazilian animal products now raises pressure on exporters, inspectors and diplomats, with the immediate risk of disrupted trade and the longer-term challenge of proving that Brazilian production chains meet European antimicrobial rules.
Source: Globo Rural