The European Union began blocking imports of Brazilian beef, chicken, pork, fish, honey and eggs, as well as live animals, on Thursday (3). The ban, announced in May, follows the removal of Brazil from the EU list of countries that comply with its rules on antimicrobial use in livestock. Agriculture Minister André de Paula demanded a review on Thursday and said the government is "indignado", or outraged, over the block.
According to G1, Brazil's largest news portal, the EU judged Brazil's controls over these substances to be insufficient, and the measure does not stem from irregularities found in the meat itself. EU rules ban antimicrobials as growth promoters and reserve some drugs for human treatment only. Brazil's Agriculture Ministry banned feed additives such as avoparcin, virginiamycin and bacitracin in April, proposed a transition period in May that the EU refused, and presented a new control protocol in June. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in late July asking for a solution, CNN Brasil reported.
What the ban weighs on trade
In 2025 the EU took 3.7% of the volume and 5.8% of the value of Brazil's beef exports, according to the Agriculture Ministry. For chicken the bloc matters more: sales grew 73% between January and July, according to ABPA, the Brazilian animal protein association. European buyers rushed orders before the cutoff. "If from the 3rd you can no longer sell to me, I want you to sell me more now," ABPA president Ricardo Santin told InfoMoney. Monthly chicken shipments to the bloc, historically between 15,000 and 20,000 tonnes, topped 30,000 tonnes in the first half and hit 40,000 tonnes in May.
Santin said the rush built stocks in Europe and lowers the risk of immediate pressure on Brazilian chicken prices. Lots certified by Wednesday (2) can still ship and reach the European market weeks later. Beef volumes to the EU are small, but concentrated in premium cuts such as filet mignon, sirloin and rump. Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay keep their access to the bloc, and Brazilian farm groups call the measure protectionist because it was announced days after the EU-Mercosur trade deal took effect.
Prices at the counter
Consumers should not expect cheaper barbecue. "It is very unlikely that will happen," analyst Fernando Henriques Iglesias of consultancy Safras & Mercado told G1. Meat prices are already up 8.53% in 12 months, according to the August inflation preview from national statistics agency IBGE, with filet mignon up 15.2% and sirloin up 11.5%. Iglesias expects prices to keep rising through December, because meatpackers resume China-bound slaughter in October; China set a 2026 quota of 1.1 million tonnes of Brazilian beef, with a 55% surcharge above the limit. Brazil is also in the low phase of its cattle cycle, with fewer animals available for slaughter.
An EU technical mission ends an audit of Brazil's chicken and honey production chains on Friday (4), and analysis of the report is expected to take about two months. De Paula said no criterion justifies excluding Brazil, which supplies more than 170 countries.
"We will keep working and voicing our outrage over this issue. I am very optimistic that this can be reversed quickly."
The minister spoke at Expointer, a farm fair in southern Brazil. Until a review comes, the two ends of the chain feel the ban in opposite ways: ranchers and meatpackers lose the market that pays the most for premium cuts, while Brazilian shoppers keep watching meat prices climb.