The European Union has decided to suspend the purchase of beef from Brazil, effective Thursday, September 3rd, covering Ireland and the rest of Europe. This ban was confirmed by the office of the European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, Oliver Varhelyi, as reported by Mullooly on social media and to the Irish press.
Mullooly specified that the decision was not limited only to beef, also including poultry, eggs, honey, offal, and fish of Brazilian origin. In May, the EU removed Brazil from the list of countries authorized to export animal products for human consumption, with the entry into force scheduled for September 3rd of this year.
The European Commission based this exclusion on the fact that Brazil is not meeting the requirements regarding the use of antimicrobials throughout the life cycle of animals intended for export.
Recently, Lusa attempted to obtain a position from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock regarding the approaching deadline set by the EU, but received no response so far. Official documents, exclusively released by Lusa in July, indicated that the Brazilian government transferred part of the responsibility for this exclusion to the private sector.
In response to the National Congress, the ministry alleged that compliance with the new sanitary standards depended 'to a large extent' on the Brazilian companies themselves. Documents analyzed by Lusa show that over three years, the Brazilian government sent several official letters, organized technical meetings, and repeatedly requested proposals from industry entities that could meet the EU's requirements.
Additionally, records consulted by Lusa indicate that the European authority criticized the 'repeated lack of complete information' provided by the Brazilian government in the period between 2023 and 2026.