Mexico Suspends Poultry Imports from Brazil After Newcastle Disease Outbreak: Ban Covers Chicken Meat, Fertile Eggs and Ornamental Birds
Mexico City — Mexico's Agriculture Ministry said in a statement late on October 19 that it has suspended poultry imports from Brazil, after Brazil confirmed a case of Newcastle disease the same day at a turkey farm in the southern state of Santa Catarina. The ministry said the measure aims to protect domestic poultry production, noting that Mexico is a country free from Newcastle disease.
The restrictions cover chicken meat, poultry offal, fertile eggs, chicks up to three days old, and live-bird categories including ornamental and song birds, birds of prey and companion birds. Newcastle disease is a highly contagious viral disease of birds that can cause major losses to poultry farming, and trading partners typically impose border sanitary measures quickly after an outbreak is confirmed.
Brazil is the world's largest chicken meat exporter. According to a 2025 report by Brazil's Agriculture Ministry, Brazil has been Mexico's second-largest chicken meat supplier since 2022, and meat lobby ABPA says Mexico was the seventh-largest importer of Brazilian chicken meat last year, making the suspension significant for bilateral poultry trade.
It is not the first such closure. In May 2025, Mexico closed its market to Brazilian poultry products following notification of a bird flu case, reopening once the sanitary risk had eased. Mexico set no end date for the new suspension, while Brazil says it will share detailed outbreak information with trading partners; any lifting of the ban will depend on containment progress and assessments by both countries' sanitary authorities.
Source: Compiled from Reuters reporting from São Paulo, October 20, 2026.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 资料图：养殖场内的蛋鸡，南澳大利亚州政府摄影师摄，CC0（Wikimedia Commons）
