Mexico closes its market to Brazilian poultry as Newcastle disease restrictions spread

Mexico suspended Brazilian poultry imports on 19 October 2026 after Newcastle disease was confirmed on a turkey farm in Santa Catarina — the second major market to shut its doors to Brazilian poultry this week, which is exactly why buyers keep a second origin qualified.

Mexico's Secretaría de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural said the suspension covers chicken meat, poultry offal, fertile eggs, chicks up to three days old, ornamental and song birds, birds of prey and companion birds. The ministry said the measure was taken to protect domestic production because Mexico is free of Newcastle disease.

Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture confirmed the outbreak on 18 October 2026 at a commercial turkey farm in Nova Itaberaba, in Santa Catarina. Roughly 6,000 turkeys remained on the property and none had been sent for meat production; the flock is to be culled and the farm cleaned and disinfected, with about 133 properties in the surrounding area under monitoring. The ministry said products that pass official inspection remain safe to eat.

• Precedent: Mexico closed its market to Brazilian poultry in May 2025 after an avian influenza case and reopened it once the sanitary risk eased, so the duration here depends on how quickly the investigation is closed.
• Scope matters: the restriction is national, while the outbreak is on one farm — the gap between the two is what decides how much tonnage actually moves out of Brazil.
• Not a food-safety finding for consumers: Newcastle disease is highly contagious among birds but is not a threat to human health, and inspected product remains fit for sale.
• Buyer response: when one origin loses access, prices for the remaining approved origins firm up quickly; qualifying a second plant before the disruption is cheaper than qualifying one during it.

Our poultry is sourced from plants registered for export with halal and HACCP certification, shipped with health, origin and halal certificates checked against the importing country's requirements before loading, and cleared into Dubai or moved onward to African and Central Asian destinations. Documents and available volumes on request at info@naufoodgroup.com.

Source: Reuters, 20 October 2026, reporting Mexico's Secretaría de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural and Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture; The Poultry Site, 20 October 2026.