WT/DS607/1  
G/SPS/GEN/1972  
G/L/1419  
 
11 November 2021  
(21-8518) Page: 1/4 
  Original: English  
 
EUROPEAN UNION – MEASURES CONCERNING THE IMPORTATION OF  CERTAIN  POULTRY 
MEAT PREPARATIONS FROM BRAZIL  
REQUEST FOR CONSULTATIONS BY BRAZIL  
The following communication, dated 8 November 2021, from the delegation of Brazil to the 
delegation of the European Union, is circulated to the Dispute Settlement Body in accordance with 
Article 4.4 of the DSU.  
 
_______________  
 
 
1. My authorities have instructed me to request consultations with the European Union ( "EU"), 
pursuant to Articles 1 and 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement 
of Disputes ( "DSU"), Article 11 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Measures ( "SPS Agreement "), and Article XXII of the General Agreement o n Tariff and Trade 1994 
("GATT 1994 "), concerning EU measures affecting the importation of certain poultry meat 
preparations from Brazil, in particular salted poultry meat and turkey meat with pepper.  
I. BACKGROUND  
2. This request concerns the EU’s applica tion of Salmonella food safety criteria on fresh poultry 
meat  and certain poultry meat preparations , and the appropriate level of sanitary protection 
necessary to address risks to human health from the contamination of Salmonella  in products under 
these fo od categories.  
3. Salmonella  is a gram -negative rods genus belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae  family.1 Within 
the species Salmonella  bongori  and Salmonella enterica , over 2,500 different serotypes have, thus 
far, been identified. The species Salmonella e nterica  features Salmonella enterica  serotype 
Enteritidis  (S. Enteritidis ) and Salmonella enterica  serotype Typhimurium  (S. Typhimurium ), the two 
most important serotypes of Salmonella  transmitted from animals to humans in most parts of the 
world.2  
4. In the EU, the most commonly reported Salmonella  serotypes are S. Enteritidis  and 
S. Typhimurium  (including monophasic S. Typhimurium ), representing 70.3% of confirmed human 
cases of salmonellosis  with known serotypes.3  
5.  In December 2003, the EU adopted Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) 
No. 2160/2003  on the control of Salmonella  to ensure that proper and effective measures were 
taken to detect and control Salmonella  and other zoonotic agents at all relevant stages of  production, 
processing and distribution, in order to reduce their prevalence and the risk they pose to public 
health.4  
 
1 https://www.who.int/news -room/fact -sheets/detail/salmonella -(non-typhoidal)  
2 https://www.who.int/news -room/fact -sheets/detail/salmonella -(non-typhoidal)  
3 European Union One Health Zoonoses Report 2019, p. 67. 
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2021.6406  
4 Article 1.1 of Regulation No. 2160/2003. OJ L 325, 12.12.2003, p.1.  WT/DS607/1 • G/SPS/GEN/1972 • G/L/1419  
 
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  6. Regulation No. 2160/2003 established that, as of 1 December 2011, fresh poultry meat  
would meet the following microbiological crite rion for Salmonella :5  
"… fresh poultry meat (…) may not be placed on the market for human consumption unless 
it meets the following criterion: ‘Salmonella: absence in 25 grams’ ".  
7. The criterion adopted required the absence of all serotypes of Salmone lla in a direct test using 
a sample size of 25 grams of fresh poultry meat.  
8. According to Regulation No. 2160/2003, in order to  achieve the EU’s targets for the reduction 
of zoonoses, microbiological criteria must take into account, inter alia , the Salmonella  serotypes with 
public health significance, which are "the most frequent Salmonella  serotypes in human 
salmonellosis , on the  basis of data collected through the EU’s monitoring systems ".6 
9. In December 2005, the EC adopted Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 , laying 
down the microbiological criteria for certain microorganisms and the implementing rules to be 
complied wit h by business operators.7   
10. Regulation No. 2073/2005 extended the Salmonella  food safety criteria applied to fresh 
poultry meat  to poultry meat preparations  intended to be eaten cooked.8 Thus, as of 
1 December 2011, poultry meat preparations could no t be placed on the market for human 
consumption unless it met the criterion that all serotypes of Salmonella  be absent in a direct test 
using a sample size of 25 grams.  
11. However, in October 2011, the EU adopted Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1086/2011 , 
amending Regulation No. 2160/2003 and changing the Salmonella  food safety criteria for fresh 
poultry meat .9  
12. Under Regulation No. 1086/2011, as of 01 December 2011, fresh poultry meat  may not be 
placed in the market for human consumption unless it me ets the criterion: ‘Salmonella typhimurium, 
Salmonella enteritidis: absence in 25 grams’ .10  This change meant that fresh poultry meat  is not 
to be placed in the market only if two serotypes of Salmonella  are detected: S. Enteritidis  and 
S.Typhimurium . Poultry meat preparations , in contrast, continue to be subject to a food safety 
criterion that requires the absence of all serotypes of Salmonella  in a 25 grams sample.  
13. Among the justifications provided by the EU regarding the change in the food safety criterion 
for fresh poultry meat was that approximately 80% of human Salmonellosis  cases are caused by 
S. Enteritidis  and S. Typhimurium .11 A criterion for only these two serotypes would provide the best 
balance between reducing human Salmo nellosis  attributed to the consumption of poultry meat and 
the economic consequences of the application of that criterion.12  
14. As a result of the aforementioned legal instruments, the EU presently applies to fresh poultry 
meat  a Salmonella  food safety c riterion that is different from and less stringent than that applied to 
poultry meat preparations , without adequate technical or scientific evidence. The application of 
different Salmonella  food safety criteria between these two product categories has adve rsely affected 
Brazilian exports of poultry meat preparations to the EU, in particular exports of salted poultry meat 
and turkey meat with pepper.  
15. Brazil has raised this issue with the EU under the auspices of the SPS Committee. Particularly, 
Brazil p resented a specific trade concern about the EU's Salmonella  food safety criteria for fresh 
 
5 Item E of Annex II of Regulation No. 2160/2003, in https://eur -lex.europa.eu/legal -
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:02003R2160 -20130701&from=EN . 
6 Annex III of Regulation No. 2160/2003.  
7 Regulation No. 2073/2005. OJ L 338, 22.12.2005, p.1.  
8 Chapter 1 of Annex I of Regulation No.2073/2005 . 
9 Regulation No.1086/2011. OJ L 287, 28.10.2011, p. 7.  
10 Item 4 of the Preamble to Regulation No.1086/2011.  
11 Item 9 of the Preamble to Regulation No.1086/2011.  
12 Item 10  of the Preamble to Regulation No.1086/2011.  WT/DS607/1 • G/SPS/GEN/1972 • G/L/1419  
 
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  poultry meat and poultry meat preparations in four distinct occasions.13  Unfortunately, the EU has 
failed to address the concerns raised by Brazil before the SPS Co mmittee.   
II. MEASURES AT ISSUE  
16.  The measures covered by this request for consultations include, but are not limited to, the 
following:  
• Regulation (EC) No. 2160/2003  of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 
17 November 2003, on the control of Salmonella  and other specified food -borne zoonotic 
agents;14  
• Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 , of 15 November 2005, on microbiological 
criteria for foodstuffs;15  and 
• Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1086/2011 , of 27 October 2011, amending Annex II 
to Regulation (EC) No. 2160/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Annex 
I to Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 as regards Salmonella  in fresh poultry 
meat.16    
17. This request also covers any amendments, replacements, supplements, extensions, renewals, 
implementing measures or other related measures that otherwise maintain the conduct described 
above, as well as any scientific studies  or evidence that purportedly justify the measures. Brazil 
reserves the right to raise further facts and address additional measures during the course of 
consultations.  
III. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE COMPLAINT  
18. The measures covered in this request for consult ations, resulting in different Salmonella  food 
safety criteria for fresh poultry meat and poultry meat preparations, appear to be inconsistent with 
the EU’s WTO obligations, including, but not limited to, the following provisions:  
• Article 2.2 of the SPS Ag reement, because the measures are not based on scientific 
principles; are not applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant 
life or health, and are maintained without sufficient scientific evidence;  
• Article 2.3 of the SPS Agreemen t, because the measures arbitrarily or unjustifiably 
discriminate between Members where identical or similar conditions prevail and because the 
measures are applied in a manner that constitutes a disguised restriction on international 
trade;  
• Article 5.1 of  the SPS Agreement, because the measures are not based on an assessment, 
as appropriate to the circumstances, of the risks to human, animal or plant life or health, 
taking into account risk assessment techniques developed by the relevant international 
organizations;  
• Article 5.2 of the SPS Agreement, because in its assessment of risks the EU did not take into 
account available scientific evidence, relevant process and production methods, and relevant 
inspection, sampling and testing methods;  
• Article 5.4 of the SPS Agreement, because the EU did not take into account the objective of 
minimizing negative trade effects when determining the appropriate level of sanitary 
protection;  
 
13 See Specific Trade Concern 432 in G/SPS/R/88, paras. 3.13 and 3.14; G/SPS/R/90, paras. 3.54 and 
3.55; G/SPS/R/92/Rev.1, paras. 4.57 and 4.58; and G/SPS/R/94, paras. 3.87 and 3.88 . 
14 OJ L 325, 12.12.2003, p.1.  
15 OJ L 338, 22.12.2005, p.1.  
16 OJ L 281, 28.10.2011, p. 7.  WT/DS607/1 • G/SPS/GEN/1972 • G/L/1419  
 
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  • Article 5.5 of the SPS Agreement, because the EU applies arbitrary or unjustifiabl e 
distinctions in the levels of protection it considers appropriate in different situations, 
resulting in discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade;  
• Article 5.6 of the SPS Agreement, because the measures are more trade -restrictive th an 
required to achieve the EU's appropriate level of sanitary protection, taking into account 
technical and economic feasibility;  
• Article 5.7 of the SPS Agreement, because the measures are not adopted or maintained in 
a case where relevant scientific evide nce is insufficient, not adopted provisionally, not based 
on available pertinent information, and not reviewed within a reasonable period of time;  
• Article 8 and paragraph 1(e) of Annex C to the SPS Agreement, because the food safety 
requirement applied to poultry meat preparation is not limited to what is reasonable and 
necessary;  
• Articles III:4 of the GATT 1994, because the EU has failed to accord to certain poultry meat 
preparations from Brazil treatment no less favourable than that accorded to EU like pr oducts; 
and 
• XI:1 of the GATT 1994, because the measures operate as a restriction on the importation of 
certain poultry meat preparation into the EU.  
19. The measures in this request adversely affect Brazil’s exports of certain poultry meat 
preparations to the EU and appear to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to Brazil under the 
SPS Agreement and the GATT 1994.  
IV. CONCLUDING REMARKS  
20. Brazil reserves the right to raise additional claims and measures and to address additional 
legal and factual issu es under other provisions of the covered agreements during the course of 
consultations.  
21. Brazil looks forward to receiving a reply from the EU to the present request and to agreeing 
upon a mutually convenient date for consultations, with a view to resol ving this dispute.  
__________