EU officials confirm ban on Brazilian meat and dairy amid health concerns – EUobserver

The EU’s ban on imports of Brazilian meat and other animal products from Thursday (3 September) could be short-lived if audits later this week confirm compliance with EU standards — but European officials cautioned against expecting an “early result”.

A European Commission spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday (1 September) that Brazil’s beef industry had not been able to guarantee compliance with the bloc’s rules on the use of antibiotics in its livestock industry.

Since the EU requires compliance across the livestock and dairy industries, the suspension will remain in place pending an audit which is due to be completed on Friday. 

However, a commission spokesperson told reporters that authorities in Brazil were currently compiling an audit on phytosanitary and antimicrobial rules in the farming sector, though she warned that this did not necessarily mean an “early result”. 

The spokesperson added that the commission had received guarantees that Brazil’s poultry industry was compliant but that “we need them for all animal products” and this was “not the case for beef at the moment.” 

The list of countries that are not currently compliant with the EU rules was originally agreed in May and will be published on Thursday. 

It is an early test of the EU-Mercosur agreement, which reduces tariffs and eases imports with EU member states and global leaders in beef production in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. 

Around half of all beef imports to the EU come from Mercosur nations. For its part, Brazil was the EU’s second-largest supplier of beef in 2025, exporting more than 92,000 tonnes worth over €713m. 

The bloc bans the use of antimicrobials to promote growth in livestock and restricts the use of antibiotics reserved for human medicine, as part of efforts to curb antimicrobial resistance. 

The Mercosur trade pact provisionally entered into force on 1 May, despite pending approval from the European Parliament. 

European farming lobby groups were among the most critical of the EU-Mercosur trade deal which entered into force earlier this year, warning that it could result in agricultural produce made with lower phytosanitary standards and pesticides use entering the EU market. 

The commission has promised that the Mercosur trade pact would not lower standards, promising farmers that the agreement would lead to the “alignment of production standards between domestic and imported products.” 

It has insisted that EU animal welfare law related to the slaughter and transport of live animals must also be complied with by Mercosur countries.