Suspended since September 3, exports of chicken and honey to the European Union (EU) may resume in the near future  –  a statement made Wednesday (Sep. 30) by European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič during a meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services Márcio Elias Rosa in Milwaukee, US.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers’ meeting. The group comprises the 19 largest economies in the world, plus the European Union and the African Union.

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According to a joint statement from the Ministry of Foreign Relations and the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, the European representative mentioned the positive outcome of a recent audit conducted in Brazil and stated that, once the bureaucratic procedures are completed, shipments of poultry meat and honey to the bloc’s member countries could resume in the near future.

Technical decision

The final decision on resuming exports will be reviewed by the European Commission’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food, and Feed. The technical meeting is scheduled for October 20 and 21.

The Ministry of Agriculture has requested that the audit report be included on the committee’s agenda. In the assessment released this week, the European Commission deemed Brazil’s production system in the poultry and honey sectors satisfactory and concluded that the country meets European requirements regarding the use of antimicrobials.

During the inspection, the auditors verified the Brazilian controls that prevent the use of antimicrobials to stimulate animal growth or increase production yields, among other things.

Beef

The Brazilian government is also seeking an expedited process to resume beef exports. According to the statement released after the meeting, Brazilian representatives expressed the hope that the same treatment given to the poultry and honey sectors could be applied to beef.

The situation, however, involves additional requirements. In the case of beef, proof of sanitary control depends on tracking the animal’s entire life cycle, from birth to slaughter. This can take up to two years, which makes lifting the restriction more complex.

Beef also accounts for a significant portion of Brazilian animal protein exports to the European market.

Suspension of sales

The European Union has removed Brazil from the list of countries deemed to be in compliance with the bloc’s rules regarding the use of certain antimicrobials in livestock production. These substances may be used to treat infections in animals, but European legislation prohibits their use to promote growth.

The suspension of imports took effect on September 3 and applied to products such as beef, pork, and chicken, as well as honey, fish, eggs, and other items of animal origin.

Since then, the Brazilian government has been in negotiations with European authorities to lift the restrictions. The audit conducted this month on the poultry and honey supply chains was regarded as a promising step, but it does not, in and of itself, guarantee the resumption of purchases.

Other products

At the meeting in Milwaukee, Brazilian ministers and the European Commissioner also discussed the European Union’s restrictions on steel imports.

According to the Brazilian government, the bloc is reviewing the allocation of quotas for steel products. The change could open up opportunities for Brazil, even though the process still has additional stages scheduled for 2027.

The Free Trade Agreement between Mercosur and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was enacted by Brazil this Friday (Sep. 25).

The bloc of European countries consists of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, which are not members of the European Union. The South American group, meanwhile, includes Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay – Venezuela has been suspended as a member state since 2017.

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According to the Planalto presidential palace, the decree published this Friday completes the process of implementing the treaty in Brazil, establishing “commitments to expand trade and investment flows between the countries of the two blocs.” Legally, it will take effect on October 1, 2026.

The treaty provides for the expansion of trade and investment between the two blocs, with the reduction of technical barriers, as well as sanitary and phytosanitary measures deemed unnecessary for trade.

In addition, it outlines streamlined customs procedures and greater access to government procurement markets.

Commitments

Signed on September 16, 2025, by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the presidential decree also establishes commitments in the areas of intellectual property, sustainable development, environmental protection, biodiversity, and human rights.

“For Brazil, the agreement expands opportunities for Brazilian products to enter the markets of EFTA countries and creates conditions for increased trade and investment flows,” an official statement by the president’s office reads.

The agreement also includes the recognition and protection of geographical indications, a mechanism designed to promote products linked to specific regions of origin.

According to the presidential palace, negotiations between the two blocs were concluded in 2025, following ten rounds that began in 2017.

The text was approved by the National Congress in June this year and ratified by the Brazilian government in July.

Brazil’s forests generated an economic output valued at BRL 47.9 billion in 2025 – the highest figure ever recorded in Brazil, up 6.7 percent from the previous year.

The data cover natural or planted forests and are part of a survey released Thursday (Sep. 24) by the statistics bureau IBGE.

The institute takes into account silviculture – when production comes from planted areas – and extractive activities, which refer to originally natural green areas.

Silviculture soars

Silviculture jumped 8.6 percent from 2024 to 2025, reaching BRL 41 billion. Plant extraction moved in the opposite direction and fell 3.1 percent, totaling BRL 6.9 billion.

In the late 1990s, silviculture and extractive activities alternated as the main drivers of forest production. Since then, however, production from planted areas has skyrocketed, reaching 85.6 percent in 2025, leaving only 14.4 percent for plant extraction.

The survey notes that, since 2019, the economic value of silviculture has grown by 165 percent. According to the institute, this is due to technological advances. In 2025, planted forests totaled 10.4 million hectares (104,000 km²).
 

Eucalyptus and cellulose

Of this area, 78.6 percent is planted with eucalyptus, a fast-growing tree maturing in about seven to eight years, used primarily in the manufacture of cellulose, a key raw material for paper production.

Brazil’s silviculture makes the country the world’s largest producer and exporter of cellulose, a position it has held since 2022, when it surpassed Canada.

The study also reports that Brazil’s global prominence is driven by climatic conditions and soil that are favorable to rapid forest growth, as well as “investments in sustainable practices, which make it highly competitive in the international market.”

In 2025, Brazil produced 22.2 million metric tons of cellulose, 12.7 percent more than in the previous year.

In terms of value, the figure was USD 10.2 billion – a 3.9 percent decline over the past year. As a commodity, the price of cellulose is directly influenced by the global market.

The IBGE explains that prices fell due to “global oversupply, a slowdown in Chinese consumption and the resulting increase in inventories, and exchange rate factors, such as the appreciation of the real.”

Cellulose was Brazil’s eighth-largest export in 2025. The top three exports, in order, were petroleum, soybeans, and iron ore.

Food products

The report also found that food products accounted for BRL 2.2 billion in production value.

Half of this amount came from açaí (251,000 metric tons), with two-thirds of this production (66.7%) coming from the Northern state of Pará.

Yerba mate ranked second among non-timber products, with BRL 562.3 million. Of all the yerba mate harvested in the country, 88.4 percent came from the state of Paraná, in South Brazil.