The Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation, CNA, filed a complaint with the European Commission on May 27, calling on it to investigate French retailers’ boycott of Brazilian meat and ensure their actions do not undermine the Mercosur trade deal with the EU.
CNA has legitimate concerns that four of the largest French retail groups — Carrefour, Les Mousquetaires, E. Leclerc, and Coopérative U — have infringed upon EU competition rules. Together, the four retail groups control over 75% of the French grocery market.
Gedeão Pereira, vice president of CNA, was in Brussels with a delegation and the legal team that filed the lawsuit. “We have a quality product and we keep up that standard,” he says. “We’re confident and hopeful that the Commission, within the trade rules that govern the European market, will take the right steps.”
Brazilian Senator Tereza Cristina also joined the group. “We are here to file this request for an investigation into the four French companies that defamed Brazilian beef,” said Senator Tereza Cristina. ‘Anyone who speaks badly of our beef will be held accountable,’ she added.”
In November 2024, the supermarket chains made statements aimed at denigrating the meat products of Mercosur countries, including Brazil. These statements were made in the context of a broader series of announcements, in which the retailers committed to boycotting meat from Mercosur countries, also including Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The announcements explicitly call for ‘solidarity’ between the various retail groups and encourage other market players to follow suit.
The statements coincided with political debate in France in the run up to the conclusion of the EU/Mercosur agreement, struck on 6 December 2024, and seem to reflect supermarkets’ refusal to accept the EU’s role in concluding agreements on behalf of all EU citizens. The EU-Mercosur agreement seeks to enhance trade and investment between the two blocs, including creating market access opportunities for agri-food products such as beef, pork and poultry, whereas the coordinated boycott seeks to deny those opportunities.
The French retailers’ coordinated boycott raises unfounded concerns about the quality and safety of Brazilian meat, even though all imports comply with all relevant EU food safety standards. Such baseless claims damage the reputation of Brazilian products and discourage other retailers and consumers from purchasing them.
CNA’s complaint identifies why these actions violate EU Competition rules and calls on DG Competition to take immediate action.