A new ban on the use of growth-promoting antibiotics in livestock farming for meat imported into the EU will enter into force in September 2026, and currently, Brazil is not among the exporting countries able to guarantee compliance with European requirements. The country has been removed from the list, updated on 12 May, of third countries authorised to export meat and animal products to the EU (1).

This mirror measure aimed at combating the scourge of antimicrobial resistance was adopted in 2019 and will only enter into force on 2 September 2026 — more than seven years later (2). The measure extends to operators in third countries exporting animals or products of animal origin to the European Union the prohibition, already applicable within the EU since 2006, on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock farming. In order to be imported into the EU, animal products must be accompanied by an official certificate of compliance and originate from a third country included on a list of approved third countries (3).

The absence of Brazil from the list published on Tuesday, 12 May by the European authorities of countries currently authorised to export meat to the EU is a real bombshell, coming just days after the start of the provisional application of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, which is specifically intended to increase these flows of beef and poultry meat in particular.

Brazil can still bring itself into compliance by September. To do so, it will notably have to adopt new rules, monitor their implementation and ensure transparency throughout the value chains of its meat sectors. However, the date from which such changes could trigger a reauthorisation of exports also depends on production timelines for the first animals that have never received antibiotics as growth promoters.

The reactions of the Brazilian authorities are not yet known. The country does, however, have several avenues of recourse to challenge the application of this European text, notably through the rebalancing mechanism of the EU/Mercosur trade agreement, which entered into provisional application on 1 May.

Notes
(1) The list of authorised countries is available at this link.
(2) See the study by the Institut Veblen, When Will Imports of Meat from Animals Doped with Growth-Promoting Antibiotics Finally End?, June 2024.
(3) In addition to the very long delays in the implementation of this mirror measure, the practical arrangements for its implementation have considerably weakened its scope. A first delegated regulation intended to define the conditions for implementation was published on 27 February 2023 (although it should have been adopted before 28 January 2022). This regulation requires imported animal products to be accompanied by an official certificate of compliance with the prohibition laid down in Regulation 2019/6. These products must also originate from a third country or a region of a third country appearing on a list of approved third countries. The first implementing act (published only on 29 January 2024) provides for an obligation on operators in third countries to complete a self-declaration certifying that the meat complies with the prohibition established by European legislation. This obligation will only enter into force as of 3 September 2026. For the measure to become fully applicable, it still remained necessary to update the list of third countries approved to export their animal products to the European Union. Furthermore, the French authorities had long feared that the measure would only cover antibiotics administered as veterinary medicinal products and not as feed additives, which would represent only a tiny fraction of the uses by producers in third countries exporting their meat to the EU. However, the European Commission reportedly confirmed last February that, despite its scope formally relating to veterinary medicinal products, the text would indeed cover both uses.