Brazil says EU will block animal product exports from September

Brazil said the European Union has moved to block its animal product exports starting from September, a step the government called a surprise shortly after the EU-Mercosur free trade deal began taking effect provisionally. In a statement, Brazil’s agriculture ministry said it would work to reverse the decision, after the two sides moved into a new trade framework.

The ministry said the European decision was received “with surprise,” and Brazilian officials said they planned immediate engagement with EU authorities. Brazil said its head of mission to the EU would meet EU officials on animal products on Wednesday “to seek explanations about the decision,” according to the ministry.

Brazilian reporting cited by the Associated Press said the EU did not accept that animal products from Brazil and other countries were free of antimicrobial substances used to stimulate animal growth, and that the EU had not received proof to that effect. The ministry did not provide additional details in the Associated Press account beyond announcing the surprise and the planned meeting.

The backdrop to the dispute is the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement that entered into force on May 1. The deal was signed Jan. 17 by Mercosur member countries including Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s office said it was provisionally enacted, a move the Associated Press described as sidestepping the European Parliament while challenges proceed.

Opponents of the EU-Mercosur agreement in Europe have argued about impacts on European farmers and about environmental and regulatory standards. The Associated Press said the deal is now before the European Court of Justice, where it could be halted if the court rules against it.

Brazil’s agriculture ministry and trade associations framed the EU’s animal-product block as an early complication for the new trade arrangement. The Associated Press account said Brazil’s animal products association reported EU countries were the third biggest destination for Brazil’s beef in 2025, after the United States and China.

The EU-Mercosur agreement’s provisional start and the animal-product dispute are now playing out in parallel: Brazil is seeking explanations and a reversal on the export-block decision, while the agreement’s ultimate fate remains tied to the European Court of Justice process.