The European Union Approves Brazil's Official Controls on Antimicrobials in Poultry Meat and Honey Following an Audit

Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) reported on Monday, September 28, that the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) of the European Commission published the final report of the audit carried out in the country on the poultry meat and honey chains. According to the ministry, the document concludes that the legal framework, the procedures, the training of inspectors and Brazil's official controls are capable of providing the guarantees required by European legislation. The mission visited establishments for poultry meat and poultry products, for honey and bee products, and official bodies between August 24 and September 4.

The audit focused on verifying the ban on the use of antimicrobials as growth or yield promoters. The process originated in the decision announced by the European Union on May 12 to restrict the entry of Brazilian animal protein on the basis of Regulation (EU) 2019/6 on veterinary medicinal products, a measure that covers poultry meat, fish and seafood, beef, eggs and honey, and that began to apply on September 3. MAPA noted that the result shows no technical impediments to Brazil's reinstatement and asked that the report be taken up by the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (Scopaff), which will make the final decision on October 20 and 21.

The use of antimicrobials as growth promoters is a concern in two ways. The first is selection pressure: repeated exposure to low doses in animals favors the emergence of resistant bacteria, including zoonotic strains such as Salmonella or Campylobacter, which can reach the consumer through meat. The second is the presence of residues in food, a risk that is especially difficult to manage in honey because the product does not undergo treatments that degrade them. That is why European rules require the exporting country to demonstrate, through verifiable official controls, that the ban is enforced throughout the chain.

For TAAG, this case shows that access to the most demanding markets no longer depends only on testing the finished product, but on the ability of a country and of each plant to demonstrate, with records and official controls, that its production practices meet the importer's requirements. For poultry and beekeeping companies in the region, maintaining documented programs for microbiological monitoring, residues and the use of veterinary medicines is what allows them to respond with evidence when an external audit arrives at their facilities.