Food Safety News
Brazil has again gone to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a dispute with the European Union about controls of Salmonella in poultry meat.
The South American country has requested dispute consultations with the EU about measures on the import of salted poultry meat and turkey meat with pepper.
Brazil claims the EU’s approach to Salmonella food safety criteria on fresh poultry meat and some poultry meat preparations intended to be eaten cooked are inconsistent with WTO’s agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which creates “unjustified barriers” to trade.
The request for consultations is the first formal dispute step in the WTO process. It gives those involved an opportunity to discuss the matter and find a solution without litigation. After 60 days, if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute, Brazil may request a verdict by a panel.
Brazil has already raised a specific trade concern (STC) about the EU’s Salmonella food safety rules for fresh and poultry meat preparations on four occasions since 2017.
In the EU, fresh poultry meat cannot be placed on the market if Salmonella Enteritidis or Salmonella Typhimurium are detected. Rules on poultry meat preparations require the absence of all serotypes of Salmonella in a 25 gram sample.
FoodWorld 