May 13, 7:53 AM
EU Pulls the Plug on Brazilian Meat Imports Starting September
The ban comes just two weeks after a massive trade deal with South America took effect. Timing, as they say, is everything.
Just when you thought the EU-Mercosur trade saga could not get any more awkward, Brussels has dropped a fresh twist. An EU committee composed of experts from member states voted on Tuesday to ban imports of Brazilian meat starting 3 September. The reason? Brazil allows the use of antimicrobials to stimulate animal growth. The EU does not.
The decision means Brazil will be removed from the list of countries that comply with EU food safety standards. That list is a big deal: being on it allows a nation to export food-producing animals to the bloc. Being off it stops those exports cold.
Now here is where the timing gets genuinely painful. The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement between the EU and Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay provisionally entered into force on 1 May. That is barely two weeks ago. The deal liberalizes agricultural trade across the Atlantic, and European farmers have been furious about it for years. Their core fear has always been that different production standards on the two sides of the Atlantic would create unfair competition from Latin American imports.
An EU diplomat was quoted as saying that the Union's ability to enforce its rules is essential for trust, a level playing field, and good relations with trading partners. An official with knowledge of the file added that the vote was unanimous. Brazil is now the first country removed from the list of states complying with EU restrictions on antimicrobial use in animals.
The formal list of third countries that meet EU requirements will be adopted in the coming days.
The European Commission has repeatedly said that EU food safety rules would continue to apply to agricultural products imported from Latin America after the trade deal entered into force. A Commission spokesperson, Eva Hrncirova, confirmed to Euronews that from 3 September, Brazil will no longer be able to export several categories of goods to the EU. Those include bovine meat, equine products, poultry, eggs, aquaculture products, honey, and casings. Hrncirova added that trade agreements do not change the EU's rules, and that the Commission establishes mandatory sanitary and phytosanitary standards that both European farmers and exporters from third countries must comply with.
Brussels has also negotiated safeguards aimed at protecting EU farmers, including mechanisms to monitor potential market disruption from a surge of imports from Mercosur countries. Quotas were also introduced for sensitive products, including poultry and meat.
The door is not permanently closed. Once Brazil demonstrates compliance with EU safety rules, the bloc will be able to resume imports. At that point, Brazil would also be able to benefit from the same tariff relief as the other Mercosur countries.
Until then, Brazilian meat is heading for the exit. The trade deal is technically alive. But the first chapter of this partnership is off to a spectacularly rocky start.
