Members of the European Parliament confirmed on Monday (31) that the ban on meat imports from Brazil will come into effect next Thursday (3), despite Brazilian requests to reverse or extend the suspension. Irish MEP Ciaran Mullooly stated that the “total ban” has already been confirmed by the office of the European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, Oliver Varhelyi. “Mission accomplished. Goodbye, Brazilian meat: from Thursday, September 3, it’s off the menu,” he wrote on his social media. The measure – which includes beef, poultry, eggs, honey, offal and fish – was announced on May 12, when Brazil was left off the updated list of countries that could continue supplying these animal products to the European bloc under the new rules controlling the use of antibiotics. On August 24th, technicians from the European Union began a mission in Brazil to evaluate the production, processing, and inspection systems of the poultry and honey supply chains. The Brazilian poultry sector has high expectations, since, due to the shorter production cycle, European technicians could verify procedures already adopted by meat processing plants, such as the segregation of animals destined for the European market and the non-use of antimicrobials as growth promoters. However, an official technical opinion has not yet been issued. In the case of beef, the expectation is that the suspension will last at least two years, the time between the birth and slaughter of the animals.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.