Farmers raise health concerns over Brazilian beef imports

Farmers are calling on the UK Government to block meat imports from Brazil after the EU banned their products over health concerns.

As part of the Mercosur Trade deal, beef from Brazil was due to be imported into the EU with lower tariffs, but it’s since been blocked after the country couldn’t prove how their beef is being produced.

Scottish farmers are concerned imports destined for Europe will end up in the UK instead, and drop the price farmers get for their product.

Charlie Adam is a cattle farmer in Aberdeenshire.

He said: “Prices have taken quite a tumble already. Costs are up, and it has the potential to lead to a reduction in the price we get, which could put the whole economics of the job in further jeopardy.”

Beef produced in the UK and the EU, unlike Brazil, has banned the use of growth hormones in cattle, and has stricter protocols over antibiotic use in animals.

The overuse of microbial substances like antibiotics are linked to creating higher resistance to the medicines in people and animals, so the use of them in farming has halved over the past decade in Scotland as a result.

Farmers also must comply with regular unannounced checks from the government to make sure regulations are being followed or else face penalties.

Charlie added: “Fundamentally we feel that nothing should be coming into the UK food chain which doesn’t get produced to the same standard as we adhere to here.

“Otherwise, it makes all the effort that we’re making seem pointless.”

There are more cows in Brazil than people, totalling more than 200 million, which means proving the details of all its cattle will be a big task.

Daniel Azevedo Duarte, an agricultural journalist in Brazil, said: “We can supply European Union without any kind of antimicrobials; we already do that.

“But the issue is how to prove that a specific line, that specific beef, that specific poultry or pig was produced without them.

“The EU and UK markets are relatively small ones for Brazil, other markets like China are much larger trade partners, and they don’t have the same traceability requirements.”

Recent figures from the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board suggest the amount of beef imported from Brazil doubled between 2024 and 2025.

There are more cows in Brazil than people, totalling more than 200 million Adobe Stock

Industry bodies here say meat imports are more likely to end up in the hospitality sector, which is facing rising costs.

Scott Walker from the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers said: “I don’t believe that that product will end up in retailers as they tend to back Scottish and British products.

“But what you can see is a lot of that product ended up in the wholesale market, and it doesn’t take a lot of that product to go into the wholesale market to destabilise the beef price here.

“Abattoirs here make most of their profit selling high value cuts of meat, and if they come in from elsewhere like Brazil, they won’t make any money off Scottish produce.”

The EU ban comes into force on September 3, but the UK say it isn’t “currently” planning to automatically mirror the EU’s requirements.

A spokesperson for the Department for Food, Drink and Rural Affairs said: “Our experts have sought urgent information and assurances from Brazil as part of a rapid assessment of beef and poultry production systems to ensure our high food and animal welfare standards are being met, while closely monitoring market impacts of the EU ban.

“This government will always act to protect our farmers and the public with our world-leading robust import controls which are in place to protect animal and public health.”