The aim of this article is to analyse the influence of European requirements concerning cattle sanity and beef safety in the development of Brazilian laws in such areas, with special attention paid to the role of European Union audits on the development of Brazilian laws. The laws on beef from Brazil and Europe were identified by searching tools of Brazilian and European agricultural organizations (Sislegis and Eurolex) and categorized according to common themes and their chronological developments. Considering the current tendency for globalization and the standardization of international trade laws, according mainly to the requirement of the World Trade Organization Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures signed in 1995, it was possible to identify a recent updating of beef legislation, both Brazilian and European, aiming to satisfy this new panorama.