By Lisandra Paraguassu and Oliver Griffin
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO, July 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a law late on Thursday to ban the sale and production of the French delicacy foie gras in the South American country, citing animal cruelty.
France considers foie gras — traditionally made from fattened duck and goose livers — part of its culinary heritage, but animal rights activists have condemned the practice of force-feeding ducks or geese to enlarge their livers.
Brazil's foie gras production is tiny, so the ban on sales will effectively end imports of the luxury food from France.
When lawmakers approved the ban in April, French diplomats stepped up pressure on Lula to veto the bill, according to a Brazilian diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"The argument was that their production does not involve animal cruelty, that it is a cultural issue, and so on," the Brazilian diplomat said. "But there was no chance of (a veto) ... It was approved unanimously by Congress."
The French embassy in Brasilia and the France-Brazil Chamber of Commerce declined to comment.
France is in no position to make demands of Brazil, the Brazilian diplomat added, citing French obstruction to the approval of an EU-Mercosur trade agreement signed in January after 25 years of negotiations.
France saw that deal as an opportunity to increase foie gras exports to Brazil, the source said.
After Brazil's Congress approved the ban, French foie gras industry association CIFOG said in a statement on its website that the law would breach the EU-Mercosur deal.
While a European Union report published in 2022 found that foie gras production respected animal welfare rules, Brazilian animal rights activists have questioned those findings.
"What constitutes 'good treatment' can be pretty relative, right? I don't know what they mean by 'good treatment,' but for animal welfare organizations, there is no wellbeing involved," Marina Lacorte, food systems campaign manager at welfare group World Animal Protection, said of foie gras production.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Oliver Griffin in Sao Paulo; Editing by Rod Nickel)
