Many Europeans enjoy having the freedom to take their pets abroad when on holiday
The European Pet Passport allows for qualifying domestic animals to freely cross borders in Europe, while the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) provides for qualifying domestic pets to travel to and from certain EU member states without undergoing quarantine. The conditions for the movement of pet animals are laid down in Regulation (EC) 998/2003 which establishes the animal health requirements for both the movement of pets between member states and from third countries.
Pets, defined as cats, dogs, ferrets, invertebrates, ornamental tropical fish, amphibia, reptiles, all species of birds except poultry, rodents and domestic rabbits, must have a passport issued by the competent veterinary authorities of Malta or of any other EU country in order to travel freely across the Union. In the case of cats, dogs and ferrets the passport must have the appropriate information, entered by a vet, of valid rabies vaccination and details of the other vaccinations administered to the pet. All the certificates must be made available together with the pet passport. Third country travellers are also required to obtain a health certificate from a veterinarian stating that the pet is healthy and fit to travel.
Pet owners must fulfil all the requirements of the scheme. At present, their pets will find themselves going into quarantine for six months, if they fail a check when they arrive back to their home country. It is advised to wait 21 days from the date of their first rabies vaccination before travelling to another EU member state and pets should not have visited any non-approved countries or territories for at least six months before they enter another EU member state.
For the EU Pet Passport to be issued the usual procedure to follow has been the implantation of a microchip, a rabies vaccination, followed by a blood test. A tattoo was only accepted as a means of identification until 3 July 2011, except if travellers were taking their pets to Malta, Ireland and UK, where a microchip had been already required.
Most EU member states and many outside the EU have joined PETS. Malta, along with the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden, has an exemption from the standard EU pet travel rules and is allowed to implement stricter rules for pet travel based on Legal Notice 169/2001 which rules are more stringent than those of Regulation (EC) 998/2003. Besides the above mentioned requirements, until December 2011, the four member states also require proof that the vaccination has been effective. Moreover, an anti-tape worm treatment is required to enter Finland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden or the UK, and an anti-tick treatment to enter Ireland, Malta or the UK.
However, as from next January, all EU 27 member states will be harmonising their entry rules. From 2012 onwards pets will no longer require a blood test if they are travelling within the EU. Successful vaccination programmes have now allowed all the EU member states to consider whether the additional controls for rabies are still necessary. Pets from the EU and listed non-EU countries such as the USA and Australia will no longer need a blood test and will only have to wait 21 days after vaccination before travelling; whilst pets entering from a non-listed third country must pass a blood test 30 days after vaccination followed by a three-month wait. The new EU-system is for cats, dogs and ferrets.
Brenda Azzopardi is Executive (EU Policy and Legislation)