Brazil ‘surprised’ by EU ban on meat imports

Published on 13/05/2026 - 18:27 GMT+2

Brazil’s ambassador to the EU Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva told Euronews that the EU’s determination to prohibition nutrient imports from Brazil from September was "a surprise" and that Brasilia had engaged with the European Commission to reverse the move.

Da Costa e Silva's comments came a time aft a committee of EU nationalist experts voted to prohibition imports of Brazilian nutrient implicit the usage of antimicrobials to stimulate carnal growth.

The determination was taken conscionable a fewer days aft the EU-Mercosur free-trade statement betwixt the EU and Mercosur countries - Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina -provisionally entered into unit to liberalise commercialized successful cultivation products.

“The determination came arsenic a astonishment to america yesterday,” da Costa e Silva told Euronews.

Brazil is the archetypal state to beryllium removed from the database of states complying with EU nutrient information standards connected antimicrobials.

“We person started a method dialog with the Commission to reverse Brazil’s exclusion from the list,” da Costa e Silva added, saying his squad had met with the European Commission’s wellness Directorate General to “obtain explanations” astir the decision.

Free commercialized of cultivation products betwixt the EU and Mercosur remains highly contentious, with EU farmers informing that little accumulation standards successful Mercosur countries could make unfair competition.

The prohibition connected Brazilian imports volition screen commodities including unrecorded food-producing animals and derived products, specified arsenic beef, poultry, eggs, aquaculture and honey, and volition instrumentality effect from 3 September 2026.

“To beryllium included successful the database of 3rd countries authorised to export to the Union, Brazil indispensable guarantee compliance with the Union requirements connected the usage of antimicrobials for the full beingness of the animals that the exported products originate from,” Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova told Euronews.

Hrncirova said the Commission had already worked intimately with Brazilian authorities connected the issue. “Once compliance is demonstrated, the EU volition beryllium capable to authorise/resume the exports,” she added.