The Association of Poultry Processors and Poultry Trade in the EU (AVEC) has reacted with deep concern to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement that the EU-Mercosur trade agreement could be provisionally applied before the European Parliament has given its consent.
AVEC said it strongly opposes provisional application in this case, warning that moving ahead of Parliament’s vote would undermine democratic scrutiny and upset the institutional balance set out in the EU Treaties. The association stressed that the European Parliament is the EU’s directly elected representative body and that implementing a far-reaching trade agreement affecting agriculture, food systems and rural jobs before Parliament has had its say would, in spirit, deny democratic accountability.
The organisation also highlighted that the European Parliament has formally decided to ask the Court of Justice of the EU to review the agreement’s conformity with the EU Treaties. In this context, AVEC argued that advancing any form of implementation, especially provisional application, would be politically and institutionally indefensible. It said that if the EU’s top court is being asked to assess the legal foundations of the deal, the responsible approach is to wait for the Court’s opinion before any implementation begins.
Concerns were further reinforced by reference to a recent European Commission audit on Brazil, published on 25 February 2026, which examined controls relating to residues and prohibited substances in animals and animal products. According to AVEC, the audit concluded that a critical recommendation designed to ensure that products from cattle treated with oestradiol are not exported to the EU had not been implemented as proposed. The measures in place were found not to be fully effective in excluding such meat from export to the EU, and the report also noted a significant deviation from earlier commitments, as well as the failure to communicate a key decision to the European Commission.
AVEC said this amounted to a clear warning, stating that before considering additional market access under the EU-Mercosur agreement, the EU must be fully confident, based on verifiable controls and enforcement, that exporters can meet EU requirements in practice and not only on paper.
The association called on the European Commission and Member States to halt any move toward provisional application of the agreement before the European Parliament has given its consent, to commit publicly that there will be no implementation of the deal until the Court of Justice has delivered its opinion, and to take full account of the Commission’s audit findings on Brazil to ensure EU production standards are fully demonstrable and enforceable before any additional access is granted.
AVEC concluded that Europe’s trade policy can only be credible if it is democratically legitimate and consistent with the EU’s standards and enforcement expectations, warning that provisional application must not be used to bypass Parliament’s role or to overlook evidence of ongoing compliance weaknesses.