Brazil has claimed that it has made progress towards resuming exports of poultry and honey to the EU.

The comments come as a European Commission audit focused on poultry and honey production in the South Amercian country was completed yesterday (Friday, September 4).

In a statement, Brazil's Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Andre de Paula said "the sanitary controls and official procedures adopted by Brazil were considered satisfactory by European teams for the poultry and honey supply chains".

"Now we await the bureaucratic process, but very quickly we will see Brazil back on the list of poultry and honey suppliers to the European Union," he said.

Brazil

On Thursday, the EU suspended imports of Brazilian beef, poultry and other animal products due to concerns regarding Brazil's compliance with EU rules on the use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals.

This followed a vote by member states in May to exclude Brazil from an updated list of third countries authorised to export food-producing animals and animal products to the EU.

In order to be reincluded on this list, the European Commission said Brazil must ensure compliance with EU requirements on the use of antimicrobials for the entire lifetime of the animals that the exported products originate from.

The Brazilian government has already expressed "deep concern" over the EU decision to suspend meat imports from the country.

It warned that "reciprocal measures" could be taken against the EU if talks around the restrictions do not lead to a "satisfactory solution".

Audit

European officials began their audit in Brazil on August 24 which included visits to poultry and honey production facilities and official bodies.

During the audit, Brazil said it presented the procedures and controls adopted in the country.

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) will now produce a report on the outcome of the audit.

If the outcome is positive the European Commission previously said it "may consider proposing an amendment to the list of authorised third countries in order to reinclude Brazil for poultry, and/or honey".

However, any such proposal would be submitted for a vote by the member states in standing committee.

Although exports remain suspended, Brazil's ministry of agriculture and livestock (Mapa) said the audit result represents progress in the process of reincluding the country on the list of suppliers authorised to export poultry and honey to the EU.

In the first five months of this year, Brazil exported over 193,000 tonnes of poultry to the EU, up 27% on the same period in 2025.

Notably, the audit did not cover Brazilian beef meaning that this sector faces a longer wait to regain access to the EU market.