EUROPEAN UNION – MEASURES CONCERNING THE IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN POULTRY MEAT PREPARATIONS FROM BRAZIL REQUEST FOR CONSULTATIONS BY BRAZIL
Document: REQUEST FOR CONSULTATIONS BY
Date: 11 November 2021
Document codes: WT/DS607/1; G/SPS/GEN/1972; G/L/1419
Complainant: Brazil
Respondent: EU
Dispute stage: Consultation
Agreements cited: Art. III:4, XI:1  GATT 1994Art. 2.2, 2.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 8, Annex C  Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)

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.

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 application 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 food 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.
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6. Regulation No. 2160/2003 established that, as of 1 December 2011, fresh poultry meat
would meet the following microbiological criterion 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 Salmonella 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 with 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 meets 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 Salmonellosis 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 criterion 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 adversely 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 presented 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.
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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 Committee.
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 consultations, 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.
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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 than
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 evidence 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 products;
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 resolving this dispute.