Veto on Brazilian meat: government holds the production sector responsible for adapting to EU requirements

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa) argues that it is largely up to the productive sector to create mechanisms to meet European Union requirements against the use of antimicrobials in livestock farming.
At the beginning of June, the European Union officially removed Brazil from the list of countries considered capable of complying with the bloc's rules for controlling the use of antimicrobials in animal production. As a result, the country will be prevented from exporting meat to the European market from September 3rd.
Antimicrobials are substances used to treat and prevent infections in animals. Some of these medicines can also be used as growth promoters, a practice restricted by European legislation.
EU bans meat from Brazil from September 3rd
In the list released in 2024, Brazil was authorized to export beef, chicken and horse meat, in addition to tripe, fish and honey. In the most recent update, the country was excluded in all these categories.
"Therefore, the measures necessary to make exports viable depend, to a large extent, on the development and implementation, by the productive sector, of private control systems capable of guaranteeing the segregation of production in accordance with European Union requirements", stated the ministry in a response sent to the Chamber of Deputies. The information was initially released by the Lusa portal and confirmed by g1.
The Brazilian government argues that part of the antimicrobials banned by the European Union remain authorized in Brazil for use in cattle farming, meat and laying poultry farming and pig farming.
According to Mapa, these products have "relevant veterinary purposes for livestock production systems".
In the document sent to Congress, the Ministry states that, in June 2023, the Secretariat of Agricultural Defense brought together representatives of potentially affected sectors to warn about the need to create mechanisms capable of ensuring that animals intended for export to the European Union were not treated with antimicrobials vetoed by the bloc.
Also according to the ministry, this warning was reiterated in meetings later. The ministry argues that the necessary control systems are of a private nature, since the government did not intend to ban, at a national level, the use of antimicrobials restricted by European legislation. to the requirements of the European Union, but says that the first proposals were considered insufficient.
Export of beef
Ministry of Agriculture/Disclosure
Timeline
According to the ministry, on April 28, 2026, a protocol for the beef chain was sent to the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission (DG SANTE), supplemented on May 15.
On May 20, during meeting with the Brazilian ambassador, DG SANTE informed that it would not comment on the protocol nor would it accept the transition period proposal presented by Brazil, in addition to reiterating concerns regarding the bovine chain.
In a new meeting, on May 29, the European Commission requested a more detailed document on the regulatory situation of antimicrobials in Brazil and on the control mechanisms that would guarantee compliance with European rules.

On the same day, Mapa approved, through an ordinance, the Protocol for the Export of Cattle Free of Antimicrobial Medicines.
Although the European Union has removed Brazil from the list of countries authorized to export meat to the bloc, the government states that negotiations continue.
In response to Congress, Mapa reported that it met again with technicians from DG SANTE on June 29 and committed to sending an updated version of the documentation, reinforcing the measures of control.
g1 contacted the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries (Abiec), which did not respond.
Ban of antimicrobials
The concern that people develop infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria is one of the reasons that led the European Union to demand greater control from its importers over the use of antimicrobials in animal husbandry.
This is a topic that began to be debated by the EU in the 90s and that culminated in a series of regulations in the following years. In 2006, for example, the bloc banned the use of any antibiotic in animal feed as a growth promoter.
As of 2019, the bloc expanded these requirements with the publication of new regulations that established stricter criteria for the production of meat, milk, eggs and other products of animal origin destined for the European market.
Under the rules, countries that export to the European Union cannot use:
antimicrobials to promote growth or increase productivity of animals;
and/or antimicrobials that contain substances reserved for the treatment of infections in humans.
Behind these requirements is the fear that the use of antimicrobials in animals favors the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, reducing the effectiveness of these medicines in treating infections in people.
In 2022, in fact, the EU classified antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the main threats to human health.
The topic is also part of a European Union campaign called One Health, launched in 2023, and which defends integrated actions for human, animal and environmental health, considering that they are directly connected.

Source: G1

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