Pet passport

For other animal passports, see Animal passport.

The Pet Travel Scheme ("PETS") is a system which allows animals to travel easily between member countries without undergoing quarantine. A Pet Passport is a document that officially records information related to a specific animal, as part of that procedure. The effect is to drastically speed up and simplify travel with and transport of animals between member countries, compared to previous procedures, if the regulations are followed.

PETS was originally introduced for the benefit of animals entering or returning to the United Kingdom from other European Union countries, since historically the UK had very strong controls to safeguard against rabies including a compulsory six-month quarantine period on imports of many animals. On 1 October 2001 several European Union countries introduced the PETS scheme, under which animals from any member country may freely travel (with the correct procedure) to any other member country on approved carriers. Over time the scheme has rolled out to other countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Appearance

The pet passport itself comes in multiple forms, sometimes a pink A4 sheet, sometimes a small blue booklet. It contains the microchip or tattoo number of the animal, the certification that it has had a rabies vaccination, and needs to be signed by an officially approved veterinary surgeon.

A new style passport with laminated strips and additional security measures was introduced in the UK in December 2014. Old style passports remain valid.

The passport is not to be confused with a much smaller folder (sometimes purple coloured), routinely issued by vets, which records the complete vaccination history of the pet.

Details of procedure

Every country has different requirements, both for export and import of animals, although some features are common to all.

Common features

All countries:

  • Subcutaneous (below the skin) microchip implant that meets the International Society of Pharmacovigilance (SoP) specification.
  • Certified rabies vaccination, with some kind of prior period of time or evidence the vaccination is working (commonly blood serology tests to confirm the vaccination has "taken" and a delay of some months to confirm the animal is rabies-free initially). For pet travel in Europe, the rabies vaccine should be administered by a veterinarian with a minimum of 21 days (taken from UK Gov website 04 Feb 2014) before travel. Some countries may differ and always check with your local veterinarian for the procedures to follow.

Some countries:

  • Animal treated for ticks, fleas and tapeworms between 24 and 48 hours before boarding the outbound transport. The time limit is usually enforced strictly (i.e. no less than 24 hours and no more than 48 hours before check-in)
  • Veterinarian's letter or certificate confirming fitness to travel and/or no obvious signs of disease
  • Government certification that the veterinarian's export documentation and certificates are in order for travel
  • Sometimes only certain carriers or certain import/export points will allow animals.

In some countries the formal passport is needed. Others will accept documentation in any form so long as it is clearly evidential of the procedure being followed. Usually the animal and its papers are checked thoroughly both on boarding or export and upon arrival.

The Pet Passport alone can be used to enter some countries if it records all relevant information (e.g. the UK), but it will not suffice to enter many countries. For instance Guatemala, in common with almost every country operating such a scheme, demands that all imported pets have a rabies vaccination, but will not accept the Pet Passport as proof of said vaccination. They require the proof of the rabies vaccination in the animal's records.

Tapeworm treatment must be administered by a vet not less than 24 hours and not more than 120 hours (1–5 days) before scheduled arrival time.

Specific country regulations

United Kingdom

Japan

Though a participant in the PETs scheme, to bring pets into Japan from member states there are several separate procedures that must be followed. These do not cover Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and Guam, which have designated region (rabies free) status. If you take a pet out of Japan, it may take between 6 months to a year for it to re-enter. Including prior contact with Japanese Quarantine several months before entry;

To take a dog or cat out of Japan, on top of the necessary injections and microchip, you must;

Other useful information

The PETS scheme is not yet standardised. This leads to much confusion. Every journey between any two countries should be researched separately to ensure that the animal will be accepted for travel upon arrival at the departure point.

List of countries exempt from rabies quarantines

A correctly prepared cat or dog may be imported without quarantine into the United Kingdom from the following countries under the Pet passport scheme, but only by an authorised transport company:[1][2] Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France*, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Vatican, Antigua and Barbuda, Ascension Island, Australia, Barbados, Bahrain, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Falkland Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia*, Guadeloupe, Jamaica*, Japan, Réunion*, Malta, Martinique*, Mauritius, Mayotte*, Montserrat, New Caledonia*, New Zealand, St. Helena, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, United States, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna.

Note: *=France or French DOM (Départements d’Outre-Mer)*Although Jamaica is a qualifying country under the EU Regulation, Jamaican law currently prevents the involvement of that country in PETS. PETS-prepared animals may not enter Jamaica and animals may not be prepared for PETS in Jamaica(Source:Defra).

References

Further reading

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Travelling with pets.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.