China bans poultry imports from Brazil due to ongoing bird flu concerns
Beijing halts all shipments from Brazil following an outbreak in Rio Grande do Sul
CHINA – China has stopped all imports of poultry and poultry-related products from Brazil following confirmation of a bird flu outbreak in the South American country.
The announcement, posted on May 29 by China’s General Administration of Customs, follows a suspension of import applications from Brazilian poultry farms two weeks earlier.
According to the notice, both direct and indirect imports of Brazilian poultry are now prohibited and any such shipments that arrive in China will be either returned to the sender or destroyed.
The customs authority added that waste materials of animal or plant origin from Brazilian ships entering Chinese ports must be handled under official supervision and cannot be discarded without clearance.
Brazil reported the outbreak on May 16 after detecting avian influenza at a commercial poultry facility in Montenegro, a city in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.
In response to the outbreak, Brazil’s agriculture ministry requested that China limit any restrictions to poultry products originating from the affected area.
However, China rejected that appeal, opting instead to impose a nationwide ban on all Brazilian poultry imports.
Other major importers of Brazilian chicken, including Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, have implemented more targeted bans, restricting imports only from the state where the outbreak occurred.
The European Union and South Korea, on the other hand, have joined China in enforcing a countrywide suspension of imports from Brazil.
The restrictions come as a major blow to Brazil, which exported around US$10 billion (USD) worth of chicken meat in 2024, representing about 35% of the global poultry trade.
The export halt is also expected to strain supply chains for countries that heavily depend on Brazilian chicken, especially given that China is Brazil’s top customer for poultry.
Brazilian officials have expressed hopes that diplomatic ties between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping might help soften the decision.
However, China has shown no sign of adjusting its stance so far, leaving Brazilian producers and international buyers to navigate the fallout from the sweeping embargo.
Sign up HERE to receive our email newsletters with the latest news and insights from Africa and around the world, and follow us on our WhatsApp channel for updates.
