Audit could pave the way for meat exports.

The restriction on some Brazilian meat in the European market reignites the debate on how to prove sanitary compliance without applying generalized blockades to the entire production chain. This analysis comes from Roberta Zuge, who holds a master's and doctorate in Animal Reproduction from USP and is an advisor to the Scientific Council for Sustainable Agriculture (CCAS).

According to the expert, the difficulty lies in demonstrating, establishment by establishment, that the animals did not receive antimicrobials banned by the European Union throughout their lives. The challenge is greater in cattle farming, characterized by long supply chains, different levels of traceability, and thousands of farms.

One alternative would be to expand audits conducted by independent bodies, accredited and supervised by the public authorities. These certifications would function as an additional layer of control, without replacing official oversight, which remains the exclusive activity of the State.

The model would allow for the separation of suppliers that already meet the requirements from those that still need to adapt. Brazil already has inspection structures, traceability systems, and private certifications that could serve as a basis for this process.

The proposal also includes controls capable of reducing risks such as mixing eligible and ineligible batches. For analysis, a continuous verification system could lessen the need for broad restrictions and offer the European Union more detailed evidence on each supplier's compliance.

“Nevertheless, this does not invalidate the central proposal: a robust third-party certification system, with public accreditation, like the previously proposed Integrated Production standards, and the possibility of additional audits by the EU itself when necessary, tends to reduce the number of times this verification audit needs to occur — because most of the compliance would already be documented and continuously verified, instead of being checked only in one-off inspections,” he concludes.