China lifts Brazil poultry import ban tied to avian flu

China announced this Friday (7) that it has lifted the import ban imposed on products from Brazil due to the avian influenza outbreak.

China’s General Administration of Customs, which communicated the resumption of imports, had not specified which products would be included in the resumption of purchases as of the last update of this report.

Purchases of Brazilian chicken by China, Brazil’s main importer of poultry, had been suspended on May 16, after the country detected its first and only case of avian influenza at a commercial farm in Montenegro (RS).

Brazil is the world’s largest chicken exporter, shipping the product to 151 countries. China is the main buyer and, in 2024 alone, imported more than 560 thousand tonnes of Brazilian chicken.

See below the ten main destinations for Brazilian chicken in the first nine months of 2025. The chart was prepared with DataLiner data:

Top 10 Destinations for Brazilian Chicken | Jan–Sep 2025 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (Clique aqui para solicitar uma demo)

At the end of September, a Chinese government delegation visited Brazil to carry out an audit to confirm that Brazil was free of avian influenza.

Brazil declared itself free of avian influenza on June 18, after going 28 days without recording new cases at farms, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

The countdown began on May 22, after the farm in Montenegro (RS) was disinfected, where the outbreak occurred in commercial poultry in Brazil in May. At the time, the Brazilian government communicated the new status to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and notified countries that purchase Brazilian chicken.

Brazilian exports have been growing since 2018, when the volume reached 4.1 million tonnes, according to data from the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA).

Although Brazil is the world’s largest exporter, most of the chicken produced remains in the country, equivalent to 64.64% of production. Each Brazilian consumes around 45 kg of poultry per year, according to ABPA.

Source: G1

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