• Brazil suspends poultry exports after a bird flu outbreak on a commercial farm.
• China, EU, Japan, and South Korea have imposed bans on Brazilian chicken imports.
• Brazil's government seeks to limit China's ban to affected regions only.
• The outbreak threatens to decrease Brazilian chicken exports by up to 20%.
• Brazil is the largest chicken exporter globally, with significant reliance on China for sales.

Brazil's poultry industry is facing severe challenges following its first confirmed outbreak of bird flu on a commercial farm in the southern city of Montenegro, leading to widespread international bans on exports. The Japanese government suspended imports of poultry meat and live poultry from the affected region on May 19, effectively halting trade from Rio Grande do Sul, which significantly affects Japan’s poultry supply as it imports around 70% of its poultry from Brazil, accounting for nearly 429,000 metric tons in the last fiscal year, according to Channel News Asia.

In addition to Japan, major importing nations, including China, the European Union, and South Korea, have enacted bans affecting Brazil's poultry exports. Brazil's Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro noted that these bans could last for at least 60 days, as Brazil struggles to manage the outbreak that has resulted in the culling of thousands of birds and led to the destruction of infected products, reports Reuters and South China Morning Post.

Brazil's government is advocating for a regional approach to the ban, which would limit China's embargo to imports strictly from Montenegro rather than a nationwide suspension. This plea is supported by the strong trading relationship Brazil maintains with China, which accounted for over 10% of its total chicken exports in 2024, as indicated by the national pork and poultry group ABPA, according to South China Morning Post and Reuters.

The implications of this outbreak could drastically reduce Brazilian chicken exports by 10% to 20% if the situation remains unresolved, particularly focusing on efforts to contain the outbreak within the region and prevent further spread, analysts suggest. Given Brazil’s position as the world's largest poultry exporter, these restrictions pose a significant threat not just for Brazilian farmers but also for global poultry trade dynamics, as highlighted by Reuters and South China Morning Post.