New rules to restrict bringing cheese and meat into Brazil

Since 2016, people coming to Brazil enjoyed a rare benefit when it came to restrictions on food and drink permitted in luggage. Artisanal cheeses and cured meat products, so often turned away at customs desks around the world, were perfectly legal to bring into Brazil. In fact, providing the products were for personal consumption, travelers had the right to up to ten kilos of meat products—including cured pork and even raw vacuum-packed beef—and five kilos of cheese. That’s a lot of Parmigiano Reggiano.

These golden days are over, however, as the Ministry of Agriculture published a new normative instruction this week to regulate (and restrict) the entry of meat and dairy into Brazil. Now, any artisanal products with ingredients of animal origin will be barred from entering the country, regardless of weight.

That means...