The system of health controls put in place by Brazil provides sufficient guarantees that products likely to be exported to the EU meet most of the requirements applicable to imports, with the exception of surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which may not be sufficient to detect the disease as early as possible, according to an audit by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANCO) published on 9 November.
This audit (https://aeur.eu/f/eer ), along with an earlier one on the traceability of hormones in meat (see EUROPE 13520/14), provides arguments for EU farmers and countries criticising the potential effects of the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur countries and the lax standards in these countries (see EUROPE 13527/5).
The EU’s veterinary experts noted in particular the low rate of registration of non-commercial holdings (backyard flocks), the weakness of the criteria for declaring suspected cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza, and the absence of a modus operandi for culling poultry in the event of avian influenza being detected. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)