Croatia Received 54 Tonnes of Brazilian Poultry Before EU Import Ban Took Effect

The European Union closed its market to Brazilian meat and other products of animal origin intended for human consumption on 3 September, after Brazil failed to supply the guarantees the bloc requires on the use of antibiotics in livestock production. Croatia's State Inspectorate has now disclosed how much Brazilian poultry reached the country before that cut-off: two consignments of 27,000 kg each, brought in during February and March 2026, according to the Croatian outlet dnevno.hr.

What Regulation (EU) 2026/1189 changes

Under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1189, consignments of poultry meat and most other categories of products of animal origin from Brazil can no longer be brought into the European Union for placing on the market as of 3 September 2026. The State Inspectorate said the measure follows Brazil's failure to provide the necessary guarantees on the exclusion of certain antimicrobial substances from food production.

The regulation is the result of a European Commission assessment that removed Brazil from the list of third countries authorised to send such products into the bloc. Because the restriction operates at country level rather than at individual establishment level, it covers the category as a whole rather than suspending named plants, which is what makes it commercially significant for importers holding open contracts.

The measure is not retroactive. It applies to future consignments and not to goods that legally entered the market before 3 September. The State Inspectorate said no withdrawal of product already placed on the market is foreseen, except in cases where non-compliance is established during official controls.

Croatia's shipments and one rejection

The volumes recorded in Croatia are small in absolute terms but arrived directly into the retail and processing chain. The two consignments declared by the State Inspectorate amount to 54,000 kg of Brazilian poultry meat in two months. A third consignment did not clear the border: in April it was refused entry into Croatia because it did not meet microbiological criteria, with Salmonella Minnesota detected.

• February and March 2026: two consignments of Brazilian poultry meat, 27,000 kg each, entered Croatia.
• April 2026: one consignment refused entry after Salmonella Minnesota was found.
• 3 September 2026: the EU entry ban on poultry meat and most animal-origin products from Brazil takes effect.

Mercosur agreement back under fire

The ban has revived criticism of the recently signed trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — which European farmers opposed on the grounds that it exposes them to competitors operating under weaker production rules.

Croatian MEP Marko Vesligaj of the SDP said in a statement that “from today there is no Brazilian beef on the EU market because it is unsafe for consumption due to excessive use of antibiotics,” adding that this confirms warnings that the Mercosur deal “puts European farmers at a disadvantage and brings food of questionable quality to EU tables.”

Vesligaj said he had repeatedly warned that the core problem with the agreement lies in unequal rules and double standards in production, citing Mercosur's considerably lighter regulation of pesticides, hormones and genetically modified organisms. He said MEPs referred the agreement to the EU Court, but the European Commission imposed its provisional application, and that a ban followed only a few months later. The case he describes sets the regulatory backdrop against which European processors and importers must now re-source poultry volumes previously covered by Brazilian supply.