Mexico drops its nationwide ban on Brazilian poultry and limits curbs to Santa Catarina

Mexico has lifted its country-wide suspension of Brazilian poultry and will restrict imports to Santa Catarina only, twelve days after Brazil's first Newcastle disease outbreak — the strongest signal yet that buyers are moving to regionalised, risk-based restrictions instead of national bans.

The Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA) said on 30 October 2026 that Mexico had recognised sanitary regionalisation for Newcastle disease, confining trade restrictions to Santa Catarina state and preserving shipments from Brazil's other authorised origins under conditions agreed between the two governments. Mexico had suspended poultry imports from the whole of Brazil in the days after the first outbreak was confirmed.

The outbreak itself has stayed inside a small area of western Santa Catarina. The first case was confirmed on a commercial turkey farm in Nova Itaberaba in the second half of October; a second followed in Coronel Freitas and a third in Nova Erechim, both inside the restricted zone already drawn around the first farm. Santa Catarina accounts for roughly 23 percent of Brazil's chicken exports this year through September, according to agriculture ministry data reported by Valor International, which is why the scope of each buyer's restriction matters more than the outbreak count itself.

• What changed: Mexico moved from a national suspension to a state-level restriction in twelve days, on the basis of Brazil's veterinary surveillance and containment record.
• How other buyers responded: most major markets confined their measures to Santa Catarina or to the affected municipalities, according to the agriculture ministry's list of 28 October. Malaysia and Uruguay are the main exceptions, still restricting poultry from all of Brazil.
• Why it matters for Gulf buyers: regionalisation keeps Brazilian tonnage in the market. The supply risk sits in certification and documentary lead times — not in the disappearance of Brazilian origin as a whole.
• What to watch: whether Malaysia and Uruguay follow Mexico into a regionalised approach, and how quickly remaining buyers redraw their restricted areas as surveillance data comes in.

Sourcing decisions in this environment depend on paperwork discipline rather than speculation. We supply halal frozen poultry and frozen meat into Dubai and the wider Gulf with halal, HACCP, health and certificate-of-origin documents issued per shipment, and we arrange customs clearance into Dubai for our buyers. For specifications, availability and documentation, write to info@naufoodgroup.com.

Source: ABPA statement, 30 October 2026; The Poultry Site / Reuters reports, 28–29 October 2026; Brazil Ministry of Agriculture restriction list, 28 October 2026.