Amid U.S. tariffs, Brazil prioritizes opening Japanese market to beef exports

Brazil’s meatpacking industry is hopeful that the government will make progress this year in opening the Japanese market to Brazilian beef. With an ongoing tariff war and Brazil at the center of U.S. sanctions—which could cost the country up to $ 1 billion in beef export revenue in 2025 alone—business leaders view access to Japan as increasingly strategic.

Japan imports 700,000 tonnes of beef annually and has signaled that only the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul may be approved to export. The industry had hoped the entire country would be included following Brazil’s May certification by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination—Japan’s main requirement. Negotiations with Tokyo have been ongoing for more than 20 years. There is now concern that meatpackers in the rest of the country will be left in “limbo,” with no clear timeline for approval.

Check below the main destinations for Brazilian beef in the first half of 2025. The chart was created using DataLiner data:

Top 10 Destinations for Brazilian Beef – Jan to May 2025 – TEU

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The documentation process for the southern region is more advanced than in other areas. Domestic producers are pushing for the inclusion of the entire country—or at least the states with the largest livestock industries, such as Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Pará, and São Paulo. The industry has conveyed to the government that a partial opening would represent an “unjustified restriction” on companies from other states.

In 2024, the southern states exported 98,400 tonnes of beef—just 3.5% of the 2.8 million tonnes Brazil shipped abroad. Leading exporters were São Paulo (638,800 tonnes), Mato Grosso (624,200 tonnes), Goiás (386,000 tonnes), and Mato Grosso do Sul (282,200 tonnes), according to Agrostat data from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Business leaders are seeking support from state governments to lobby for broader authorization. Some argue it should be “all or nothing.” The federal government, however, dismisses that idea and emphasizes that the decision ultimately lies with Japan. There are still efforts underway to include Acre and Rondônia in the initial approval list.

One executive said that “radicalism” had been avoided. Another industry leader acknowledged that Brazil cannot afford to reject even partial market openings during a time of trade tension and potential loss of the U.S. market.

A delegation from Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture is scheduled to travel to Japan next week for meetings with local authorities. If successful, an official announcement could be made in November during a visit to Brazil by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Inspection

In June, Japanese inspectors conducted an unprecedented audit of Brazil’s beef inspection system—a key step in the ongoing negotiations. The visit was timed to coincide with Brazil’s new sanitary status. Government officials and industry representatives say that technical and sanitary barriers have been fully addressed in talks with the Japanese.

However, the audit was limited to the three southern states, which had already submitted documents to the Japanese government. Feedback from Tokyo suggests that any initial approval will cover only slaughterhouses in those three states, which already held WOAH certification before 2025. Santa Catarina received the status in 2007, while Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná obtained it in 2021.

An executive noted that the movement of cattle and beef products is already permitted throughout Brazil under the unified sanitary status and that there are no longer barriers between states.

Luis Rua, Secretary of Trade and International Relations at the Ministry of Agriculture, said the government will advocate for full national approval but will not reject a partial opening. The economic and political significance of such a breakthrough is also being weighed. Japan has not yet released the final audit report.

“The request is always for full national access. We understand that all states share the same sanitary status,” Rua told Valor. However, he explained that only “Block 1”—comprising Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Acre, and Rondônia, which ended foot-and-mouth vaccination earlier—is current with the documentation requested by Japan.

“From a practical standpoint, the documents come from those five states. I’ll discuss with my Japanese counterpart to understand what they want,” he added.

The southern states submitted their documentation earlier, including livestock surveillance and slaughter data. Acre and Rondônia followed shortly afterward, but not in time to be included in the June technical audit. “The other states and the Federal District have not submitted documentation,” Rua explained. He did not rule out the need for a new in-person audit to continue the approval process for those regions.

The Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries (Abiec) and the Brazilian Meatpackers Association (Abrafrigo) sent a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday outlining the industry’s concerns. They called for the negotiations to focus on nationwide approval.

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