SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's government and the country's exporters of meat, poultry, eggs, honey and other animal products scrambled Thursday after a European Union deadline expired, triggering a suspension of imports over concerns about the use of antibiotics and antimicrobial drugs in livestock.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's agriculture ministry said Thursday that it would consider reciprocal measures if a satisfactory solution is not reached.
“Brazilian authorities expressed their indignation at the lack of dialogue before the measure was adopted," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the suspension “does not match the depth of the strategic partnership between Brazil and the EU.”
The EU announced the suspension Tuesday, with the measure taking effect two days later. Brazil, the world's largest beef exporter, shipped about 108,000 tons of beef worth about $1 billion to the EU in 2025, according to government figures.
The bloc announced in May that Brazil would be removed from its list of countries authorized to export certain animal products to the bloc, arguing that Brazil had failed to provide sufficient guarantees that its livestock production meet EU standards against antibiotic growth promoters and other restricted drugs.
The Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries, ABIEC, which provides technical support to the government in negotiations with the EU, said the move was concerning for local producers and failed to recognize what it described as the quality of Brazilian beef exports to 170 countries.
“Brazilian beef will continue to be sold in the markets for which it is authorized, but there is no automatic substitute for the European market, since different destinations require distinct products and cuts," said ABIEC in a statement.
The Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil sent a document late Wednesday signed by its chairman to Brazil's foreign ministry saying that the EU suspension “results in the clear nullification and impairment of trade benefits legitimately expected by Brazil.”
The Brazilian confederation added that the EU failed to consider the rigor of Brazil’s health inspection system and needed to make amends for such a trade imbalance.
In its Thursday statement, the agriculture ministry said Brazil “reserves the right to resort to appropriate instruments to ensure balanced trade conditions, including reciprocity measures provided for under the national legal framework, as well as relevant mechanisms established in the Mercosur-European Union agreement and the multilateral trading system.”
The EU did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova said on Tuesday that a new list of countries that comply with EU rules on antimicrobials would take effect Sept. 3, which triggered the case against Brazil.
Meat imports have been a major source of European opposition to the free trade agreement signed in January between the EU and Mercosur, a trade bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Brazil is the only Mercosur member affected by the EU suspension.
Robson Goncalves, an economist and professor at Fundacao Getulio Vargas, said he expects the EU to enforce additional measures against Brazil until the EU-Mercosur agreement comes fully into force.
The deal is provisional, pending a decision by the European Court of Justice.
“These are the last attempts to protect European agribusiness from competition with Mercosur agribusiness," said Goncalves, who described the mechanism used to halt Brazilian exports as “a political measure” by the EU as its trade deal with Mercosur has yet to be fully implemented.
“Others like those will come in the next few years,” he said.
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