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THE LATEST ON EU AGRI-FOOD POLICIES IMPACTING LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES

Rules on prohibited antimicrobials in imported animal products

Summary

The European Commission has indicated that many non-EU countries still need to submit information related to compliance with rules on antimicrobial medicinal products to ensure that they can continue to export animal products in September 2026. Regulation 2023/905 established stricter requirements to ensure that live animals and certain animal products exported to the EU are not produced using certain prohibited antimicrobials.

In order to export such products, countries will have to be included in an official list of authorised exporting countries (confirming they are compliant with the new antimicrobial rules), and must use the updated official certificates that have an attestation of compliance signed by their competent authorities. The deadline to be included in the first version of the EU’s list of authorised exporting countries was the end of November 2023. Any non-EU countries that have not submitted information by this date should send the required written declaration guaranteeing compliance as soon as possible. The declaration must include every type of animal product exported to the EU to avoid potential disruptions to trade.

On 6 March 2024, the European Commission indicated that 21 countries (out of 98) had not replied at all, and some countries had not provided the declaration for all the commodities they currently export. Providing this information rapidly will be crucial when exporting animal products from 2026 onwards.