European Union states unanimously voted on Thursday to ban imports of Brazilian meat products, mostly poultry, dealing a blow to the South American country's largest chicken processor, BRF SA.
The European Commission said the ban involved 20 Brazilian establishments that have been so far authorised to export into the EU.
Serious Impact
Blairo Maggi, Brazilian agriculture minister, told reporters from Paraná state that the EU measure unveiled on Thursday affected between 30 percent and 35 percent of Brazilian exports to the bloc.
Brazilian trade group ABPA said 12 plants operated by BRF, which is the main target of a government food safety probe, were targeted by the measure. The investigation was part of the reason it lost 1.1 billion reais ($323 million) last year, in its worst-ever annual result.
Ricardo Santin, ABPA's vice president of markets, said eight companies were affected by the decision. He declined to name them because the official list with their names was not yet public.
JBS SA, Brazil's second-largest chicken meat producer, had no establishments affected by the EU ban, a source close to the matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
BRF did not have an immediate comment on the trade ban. JBS declined to comment.
Share Effect
BRF stock, up 10 percent in early morning trading, lost steam and was up 3 percent after news of the ban. BRF shares soared after top shareholders on Wednesday agreed on appointing a new board chairman who investors felt could pull off a successful turnaround.
Earlier in the week the Brazilian government threatened to file a complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to discuss its claims that the EU chicken import quotas are in breach of global trade rules.
The European Commission said the measure was adopted because of "deficiencies detected in the Brazilian official control system."
The measure will apply 15 days after the publication in the official journal of the European Union. Until the decision is formally adopted and published in the journal, the commission said it could not reveal the names of the companies at stake "for commercial reasons".
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
