Brazil asks for WTO investigation of Indonesia on poultry trade

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The Brazilian government has formally asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to open a panel to investigate Indonesian policies on Brazil’s poultry exports, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday.

Brazil won a case against Indonesia at the WTO in 2017, but the South American country argues that the WTO decision was never implemented by Indonesia, which continues to block any chicken imports from Brazilian companies.

Brazil is not allowed to export poultry to Indonesia because it lacks an international sanitary certification that needs to be issued by the Islamic country’s government.

In a statement, the Agriculture Ministry said a team of inspectors from Indonesia visited meat processing plants in Brazil last year, but has yet to release any documentation on the inspections.

“WTO rules say a country can not delay indefinitely the issuance of the sanitary authorization,” the ministry said, adding that the Indonesian government has never identified any reason for not doing so.

Brazil, the world’s largest poultry exporter, said its request for a panel will be evaluated by WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body in a meeting scheduled for June 24.