Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network.
EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Briefed” hosted by Léa Marchal. The podcast is available on all major platforms.
Find the full transcript below:
It has been only two weeks since the EU-Mercosur trade agreement provisionally entered into force. And yet, a major development has arisen: Brazil, the biggest partner in the Mercosur bloc, will be banned from exporting meat to the EU as of September because it uses antimicrobials to promote animal growth.
Is this decision irreversible, and what can we learn from it?
On Thursday (12 May), the EU updated its list of countries authorised to export meat to the EU, in light of EU sanitary and phytosanitary rules.
It did not come as a huge surprise, but Brazil has been removed from the list. According to the Commission, Brazil cannot prove that meat exported to the EU is free from antimicrobial growth promoters.
Why now?
Before the EU-Mercosur trade deal was signed earlier this year, the Commission had to reassure Europeans that it would increase sanitary and phytosanitary checks on imported meat.
The idea was to convince farmers across the continent that all products entering the EU market would comply with EU standards — and therefore would not compete with them on unequal footing.
And now, it is time for concrete implementation.
After the checks, it appeared that Brazil was still using antimicrobial growth promoters. But more importantly, the country is unable to demonstrate that the meat exported to the EU complies with European rules and is free from antimicrobial growth promoters.
Could the decision be reversed?
The removal from the list of authorized countries will only take effect on 3 September.
Until then, Brazil could still reverse the decision if it demonstrates compliance with EU rules. But this would require significant changes.
I asked a Commission official, who explained to me that two factors will influence the process.
First, Brazil needs to put in place measures such as legislative changes and controls to remove antimicrobial growth promoters from production chains.
Second, Brazil needs to ensure that products exported in the future will meet the new requirements. Typically, a piece of beef exported in six months would most likely not comply with the requirements because the animal would have received antimicrobials in the past.
So it is hard to say whether Brazil can return to the list by September.
But with political will and some technical arrangements, it could happen.
Brazil has long pushed for the signing of the trade liberalisation agreement between the EU and Mercosur. Exporting meat to the EU is of great economic importance to the country.
And until now, compromises have been reached within the two blocs to resolve all the issues that had prevented the deal from being concluded in recent years.
