EU signals it will resume chicken purchases, ministry says

“On Monday, European Union authorities sent an official letter stating that they voted and accepted the protocols […] for the return of Brazilian chicken exports to the European Union. Very soon […] we will resume the process of relisting Brazil with the European Union,” Soares said at a Datagro event in São Paulo.

In May, the European Commission removed Brazil from the list of countries authorized to export animal products, such as beef and chicken, eggs, honey and seafood, to the bloc. The suspension took effect on September 3.

European authorities said Brazil had failed to demonstrate compliance with rules governing the control of antimicrobials in animal-product supply chains. The EU bans the use of these products as growth promoters, as well as drugs used to treat infections in humans.

Before the EU suspended purchases from Brazil, chicken exporters stepped up sales to the European market. Inventories would be sufficient to supply that market at least through September, a sector source said, which would mitigate the impact of the interruption for both exporters and importers in the bloc.

From January through August, volumes of Brazilian chicken sold to Europe exceeded year-earlier levels every month. In January, they were up 24.4% from the same month in 2025; in February, 46.3%; in March, 33.7%; in April, 23.1%. From June onward, increases were even more significant because they were compared with a period in 2025 when the bloc’s chicken imports were suspended following an outbreak of avian flu at a commercial farm in Brazil.

According to foreign trade data obtained by Datamar, Brazil exported 7,131 TEUs of chicken meat to the 27 European Union countries in the first half of 2026, nearly 50% more than in the same period a year earlier. The chart below shows the detailed monthly figures:

Chicken Meat Exports to the EU | H1 2022-2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Cleber Oliveira Soares also said that on Sunday (20), the ministry will receive a Chinese mission that will inspect establishments producing beef and pork offal and visit slaughterhouses that are authorized but temporarily suspended. Plants seeking authorization will also be inspected.

The Chinese technical mission will inspect a total of 17 facilities seeking approval to export to the country, as Valor reported on Monday (14). The list includes producers of beef, pork, and poultry, such as JBS, Minerva, and MBRF.

The list of suspended beef establishments includes facilities operated by JBS, Prima Foods, Frialto, and SulBeef. The main reason for the suspensions was the detection of residues in shipments that arrived at Chinese ports.

Soares noted that two other missions, from South Korea and Japan, were recently completed. Neither country currently buys Brazilian beef. There is an expectation that both markets will open to Brazilian beef in the near future.

Source: Valor International/ Globo Rural