Can I bring nuts and cooked sausage from Brazil to Germany?

Question

Can I bring nuts from Brazil to Germany/Europe and cooked sausage in my hand Bag? It is for personal use.

Answer 1

I am not aware of any restriction regarding nuts. For the sausage, it's slightly more complicated because animal products are heavily regulated under EU law.

A quick summary from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture's webpage:

In order to prevent the introduction of animal epidemics, it is prohibited to bring meat, milk and products derived therefrom into the European Union from non-EU countries.

German customs provides slightly different information:

When meat or milk, or meat or dairy products such as sausage or cheese are imported for personal consumption they must meet the same veterinary requirements as those applying to commercial imports.

This means that travellers who are carrying such products may only enter the European Union through those points of entry where a veterinarian is on duty. The necessary health certificates and a validated Common Veterinary Entry Document - CVED must also accompany the products.

So while according to the second source, it's technically possible to import meat there's paperwork involved and you're restricted to points of entry which are able to process it.

How strictly this is enforced is, of course, a whole other conversation.

See also these related questions:

• Bringing cooked meat to Germany
• Personal import of precooked bacon into Germany from USA