China confines Brazilian poultry ban to Santa Catarina

China was notified of the outbreak on Monday (19), when Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry confirmed the viral disease at a farm with 6,000 turkeys. The health protocol between Brazil and China provides for an automatic suspension of poultry exports from the entire country, but Brazilian authorities said they would ask Beijing to limit the ban to the affected region.

The 14 Santa Catarina plants authorized to export poultry products to China whose sales have been suspended include five Aurora Coop facilities, six operated by Seara, which is owned by JBS, and three belonging to MBRF. The list includes both slaughterhouses and distribution centers.

China bought nearly 10% of Brazilian chicken meat exports between January and September 2026, or about 420,000 tonnes. Brazil has 61 plants authorized to export to the Chinese market. Paraná is the country’s largest poultry-exporting state, followed by Santa Catarina.

Augusto Billi, the Agriculture Ministry’s secretary for trade and international relations, told Valor that China’s decision to suspend imports only from Santa Catarina would help reduce the impact on Brazil’s poultry industry. He said the outcome reflected diplomatic negotiations with Beijing that began on Sunday (18), when the outbreak was confirmed, as well as lessons learned from a previous Newcastle disease outbreak in Rio Grande do Sul in 2024.

In July of that year, when an outbreak was detected in Anta Gorda, Rio Grande do Sul, China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) halted imports from all of Brazil. Twenty-six days later, it narrowed the ban to Rio Grande do Sul alone. This time, Billi stressed, the restrictions were geographically targeted from the outset. “They could have decided to shut everything down, but we managed to change China’s position, which significantly reduces the impact,” he said.

The ministry believes that a recent on-site audit of Brazil’s animal health system by Chinese authorities gave them sufficient confidence to impose a less restrictive measure without affecting sales from other states.

Even so, Brazil stopped issuing export health certificates for poultry products bound for China starting Monday (19). The decision, described as a technical and “more cautious” measure, was made by the Department of Inspection of Products of Animal Origin (Dipoa) because the bilateral health protocol calls for a nationwide suspension. With China’s ban now confirmed as applying only to plants in Santa Catarina, other Brazilian companies will be able to resume exports.

Citi analysts viewed China’s decision to limit the restrictions as good news for poultry exporters.

In a statement announcing the suspension of poultry imports from Brazil, Mexico’s National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica) said the measure was intended to “protect domestic poultry production, since Mexico is free of Newcastle disease.”

The restrictions cover poultry meat, edible offal and other poultry byproducts, hatching eggs, chicks up to three days old, songbirds, ornamental birds and birds of prey intended for sale, as well as certain birds transported as pets. The ban applies to commercial shipments and products brought into the country by travelers.

Billi said the Mexican government’s decision was consistent with the health protocol in place between the two countries. Brazilian officials will now begin negotiations aimed at narrowing the ban to the affected state, municipality, or area.

He noted that the turkeys at the farm where the outbreak was identified would be culled later this week and the premises disinfected. Once those procedures are completed, and provided no new outbreaks are detected, Brazil will be able to seek recognition as a Newcastle disease-free country from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) in 90 days.

Under bilateral health protocols agreed between Brazil and its trading partners, restrictions on poultry imports should be limited to the area affected by the Newcastle disease outbreak around Nova Itaberaba, Santa Catarina.

Only the agreements with China and Malaysia provide for restrictions covering the entire country. Even so, China chose to limit its ban to plants in Santa Catarina. Malaysia has yet to announce how it will interpret its protocol.