Brazil considers reciprocal measures after EU halts imports of Brazilian
goods
[September 04, 2026] By
MAURICIO SAVARESE
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.
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Cattle eat at a feedlot operated by the Otavio Lage group in
Goianesia, Goias state, Brazil, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo
Peres, File)
 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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