Travel guide for dogs and cats

Your animal must be ID-marked with a chip.

Your animal must be microchipped before, or at the same time as, their rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.

Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to microchip animals.

The date for ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be in the animal's pet passport.

If the animal has been re-microchipped and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the passport.

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case euthanized. As there is always a risk that the chip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be microchipped.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in the animal’s passport in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after the specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

An animal that is brought into Sweden from another EU country must have an EU passport for pets. The EU passport must be issued by a veterinarian.

Only certain countries outside the EU may issue passports that the animal can travel with. This applies to Andorra, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Northern Ireland, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican City State. These passports look like EU passports for pets but may have a different colour and the country's national emblem on the front instead of the EU flag. However, not all of these countries issue such pet passports. In these cases, the animal needs to travel with a health certificate for pets instead (form E9.207). Passports from other countries outside the EU are not valid for travel – instead the animal must have a health certificate.

If the country from which your animal is travelling does not accept other countries forms, the country can create its own health certificate based on the template found in Annex IV Part 1 of the EU´s Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 577/2013.

You can order the health certificate E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the health certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form Health certificate E9.207

The passport must, among other things, include information about:

• The animal's ID number and the date for ID-marking. The ID number must match the microchip number. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the passport.
• Rabies vaccination.
• Animal species, sex and date of birth of the animal.
• Name of pet owner. If a breeder is to sell a puppy to a foreign owner, it is the breeder who is the owner until the animal is delivered. Therefore, remember to enter your information in the passport when the animal is handed over to you. It is always the person last entered into the passport who is considered the current owner.
• Signature of the pet owner or owners. In order for the passport to be valid, the pet owner or owners must sign the last line under the telephone number before the veterinarian issues the passport.

Only designated veterinarians with EU credentials may issue EU passports or enter information in them.

If you are travelling from another EU country and have an animal with a European pet passport with you, you can give Swedish Customs notification of dogs and cats via the internet.

This does not apply for dogs from Norway.

When you arrive in Sweden, you can choose the green lane (“Nothing to declare”) in the surveillance area. If a customs officer asks, you must be able to present your notification number and the animal’s European pet passport.

You do not have to “denotify” (i.e. “notify the return of”) your dog or cat.

• Entry registration of dog or cat (tullverket.se)

Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, it may be denied entry into Sweden.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling with your pet from Andorra, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland or the Vatican City, you must have a pet owner declaration for pets that you have completed. You must use the pet owner declaration form for pets, E9.204. Through the pet owner's declaration, you certify that the animal is yours and that it is not travelling to be sold.

If your pet is travelling with you, you do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form. But if your pet travels with an authorised person, you must also fill in the box for a power of attorney at the bottom of the form.

Remember that if you travel more than 5 days before or after your pet and the authorised person, you also need to follow the rules for animals travelling without their owner.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

The primary vaccination against rabies becomes valid after 21 days, but note that when the animal travels to Sweden from a country outside the EU where the rabies situation is not under control, a titer test is also required. This means that a blood sample must be taken to the check that the animal has an approved amount of antibodies. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new titer test is also required.

You should make an appointment with a veterinarian to take a blood sample to check that the animal has a sufficient amount of antibodies against rabies. The test is called a titre test. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after the last rabies vaccination. A sample taken earlier is not valid. If two vaccinations are needed for the primary vaccination, you must wait at least 30 days after the second vaccination before the blood sample can be taken.

Example: Primary vaccination was given on 1 March and 1 April = blood tests can be taken on 1 May at the earliest. The sample may also be taken later, but the vaccination must still be valid.

The blood sample must be analysed by an EU-approved laboratory and must show at least 0.5 IU / ml. The laboratory must be approved for antibody testing for rabies.

If the animal has been revaccinated correctly after an approved blood test, no new blood test is required for the animal to be allowed to travel to Sweden.

• Approved laboratories for antibody testing of rabies, titer test (ec.europa.eu)

3 months waiting period before a health certificate may be issued

The health certificate required for entry into the EU cannot be issued until at least 3 months after the date on which the blood sample for the antibody test was taken. Check that the rabies vaccination does not expire during the waiting period. If the animal is not revaccinated before the expiry date, a new blood sample must be taken, which means that the waiting period of 3 months begins to apply after the new blood sample.

In cases where more than 30 days have passed between the vaccination and the blood test, the waiting time between the blood test and the certification does not decrease. It is always at least 3 months and we cannot grant an exemption from that.

The results of the antibody test must be entered in the health certificate before departure to Sweden. The animal's ID number must be in the test answer. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the test answer.

Exemption from the requirement of 3 months waiting period

Are you travelling from the EU with an animal that has an EU pet passport to a country outside the EU where rabies occurs? Then you should have the animal vaccinated against rabies and a rabies titration test done before the animal leaves the EU. If the vaccination and titre test are registered in the EU pet passport before the animal leaves the EU, you can travel back to the EU with the animal at any time during the rabies vaccination's validity period without waiting 3 months.

If the rabies vaccination has expired while the animal is outside the EU, you must, however, obtain a health certificate to be able to bring the animal back to the EU. Veterinarians in a country outside the EU are not allowed to enter information in an EU passport, and the vaccination will be considered invalid. The titre test and the rabies vaccination will then only remain valid if you give a booster vaccination for rabies abroad before it expires. As this vaccination cannot be written in the EU passport, you will need a health certificate instead.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is issued and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies and rabies titre test have been done and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU. By taking the titre test in Sweden before departure, you avoid the waiting period of 3 months, which is otherwise a requirement to return to Sweden.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. You may need a new rabies titre test if you fail to give the rabies booster vaccination before the previous vaccination expires. The titre test and the rabies vaccination will remain valid only if you give a rabies booster vaccination abroad before it expires. As this vaccination cannot be written in the EU passport, you will need a health certificate instead. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped and signed by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• certificate of rabies antibody test (titre test)
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it comes to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Serbia and travel by road via Hungary to Sweden, then Hungary is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal must then be brought into Sweden via a customs declaration post. There you must notify customs that you are bringing an animal into the country. You do this at a specific lane.

You must declare the animal directly to the customs office at the border by choosing a red lane and contact a customs officer in the surveillance area.

Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, it may be denied entry into Sweden.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to be sold. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

Your animal must be ID-marked with a chip.

Your animal must be microchipped before, or at the same time as, their rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.

Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to microchip animals.

The date for ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be in the animal's pet passport.

If the animal has been re-microchipped and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the passport.

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case euthanized. As there is always a risk that the chip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be microchipped.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in the animal’s passport in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after the specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

An animal that is brought into Sweden from another EU country must have an EU passport for pets. The EU passport must be issued by a veterinarian.

Only certain countries outside the EU may issue passports that the animal can travel with. This applies to Andorra, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Northern Ireland, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican City State. These passports look like EU passports for pets but may have a different colour and the country's national emblem on the front instead of the EU flag. However, not all of these countries issue such pet passports. In these cases, the animal needs to travel with a health certificate for pets instead (form E9.207). Passports from other countries outside the EU are not valid for travel – instead the animal must have a health certificate.

If the country from which your animal is travelling does not accept other countries forms, the country can create its own health certificate based on the template found in Annex IV Part 1 of the EU´s Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 577/2013.

You can order the health certificate E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the health certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form Health certificate E9.207

The passport must, among other things, include information about:

• The animal's ID number and the date for ID-marking. The ID number must match the microchip number. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the passport.
• Rabies vaccination.
• Animal species, sex and date of birth of the animal.
• Name of pet owner. If a breeder is to sell a puppy to a foreign owner, it is the breeder who is the owner until the animal is delivered. Therefore, remember to enter your information in the passport when the animal is handed over to you. It is always the person last entered into the passport who is considered the current owner.
• Signature of the pet owner or owners. In order for the passport to be valid, the pet owner or owners must sign the last line under the telephone number before the veterinarian issues the passport.

Only designated veterinarians with EU credentials may issue EU passports or enter information in them.

If you are travelling from another EU country and have an animal with a European pet passport with you, you can give Swedish Customs notification of dogs and cats via the internet.

This does not apply for dogs from Norway.

When you arrive in Sweden, you can choose the green lane (“Nothing to declare”) in the surveillance area. If a customs officer asks, you must be able to present your notification number and the animal’s European pet passport.

You do not have to “denotify” (i.e. “notify the return of”) your dog or cat.

• Entry registration of dog or cat (tullverket.se)

Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, it may be denied entry into Sweden.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the pet passport, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling with your pet from Andorra, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland or the Vatican City, you must have a pet owner declaration for pets that you have completed. You must use the pet owner declaration form for pets, E9.204. Through the pet owner's declaration, you certify that the animal is yours and that it is not travelling to be sold.

If your pet is travelling with you, you do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form. But if your pet travels with an authorised person, you must also fill in the box for a power of attorney at the bottom of the form.

Remember that if you travel more than 5 days before or after your pet and the authorised person, you also need to follow the rules for animals travelling without their owner.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the veterinary certificate E9.207, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

The primary vaccination against rabies becomes valid after 21 days, but note that when the animal travels to Sweden from a country outside the EU where the rabies situation is not under control, a titer test is also required. This means that a blood sample must be taken to the check that the animal has an approved amount of antibodies. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new titer test is also required.

You should make an appointment with a veterinarian to take a blood sample to check that the animal has a sufficient amount of antibodies against rabies. The test is called a titre test. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after the last rabies vaccination. A sample taken earlier is not valid. If two vaccinations are needed for the primary vaccination, you must wait at least 30 days after the second vaccination before the blood sample can be taken.

Example: Primary vaccination was given on 1 March and 1 April = blood tests can be taken on 1 May at the earliest. The sample may also be taken later, but the vaccination must still be valid.

The blood sample must be analysed by an EU-approved laboratory and must show at least 0.5 IU / ml. The laboratory must be approved for antibody testing for rabies.

If the animal has been revaccinated correctly after an approved blood test, no new blood test is required for the animal to be allowed to travel to Sweden.

• Approved laboratories for antibody testing of rabies, titer test (ec.europa.eu)

3 months waiting period before a health certificate may be issued

The health certificate required for entry into the EU cannot be issued until at least 3 months after the date on which the blood sample for the antibody test was taken. Check that the rabies vaccination does not expire during the waiting period. If the animal is not revaccinated before the expiry date, a new blood sample must be taken, which means that the waiting period of 3 months begins to apply after the new blood sample.

In cases where more than 30 days have passed between the vaccination and the blood test, the waiting time between the blood test and the certification does not decrease. It is always at least 3 months and we cannot grant an exemption from that.

The results of the antibody test must be entered in the health certificate before departure to Sweden. The animal's ID number must be in the test answer. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the test answer.

Exemption from the requirement of 3 months waiting period

Are you travelling from the EU with an animal that has an EU pet passport to a country outside the EU where rabies occurs? Then you should have the animal vaccinated against rabies and a rabies titration test done before the animal leaves the EU. If the vaccination and titre test are registered in the EU pet passport before the animal leaves the EU, you can travel back to the EU with the animal at any time during the rabies vaccination's validity period without waiting 3 months.

If the rabies vaccination has expired while the animal is outside the EU, you must, however, obtain a health certificate to be able to bring the animal back to the EU. Veterinarians in a country outside the EU are not allowed to enter information in an EU passport, and the vaccination will be considered invalid. The titre test and the rabies vaccination will then only remain valid if you give a booster vaccination for rabies abroad before it expires. As this vaccination cannot be written in the EU passport, you will need a health certificate instead.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is issued and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies and rabies titre test have been done and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU. By taking the titre test in Sweden before departure, you avoid the waiting period of 3 months, which is otherwise a requirement to return to Sweden.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. You may need a new rabies titre test if you fail to give the rabies booster vaccination before the previous vaccination expires. The titre test and the rabies vaccination will remain valid only if you give a rabies booster vaccination abroad before it expires. As this vaccination cannot be written in the EU passport, you will need a health certificate instead. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped and signed by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• certificate of rabies antibody test (titre test)
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the veterinary certificate E9.207, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it comes to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Serbia and travel by road via Hungary to Sweden, then Hungary is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal must then be brought into Sweden via a customs declaration post. There you must notify customs that you are bringing an animal into the country. You do this at a specific lane.

You must declare the animal directly to the customs office at the border by choosing a red lane and contact a customs officer in the surveillance area.

Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, it may be denied entry into Sweden.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to be sold. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

Your animal must be ID-marked with a chip.

Your animal must be microchipped before, or at the same time as, their rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.

Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to microchip animals.

The date for ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be in the animal's pet passport.

If the animal has been re-microchipped and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the passport.

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case euthanized. As there is always a risk that the chip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be microchipped.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in the animal’s passport in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after the specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

An animal that is brought into Sweden from another EU country must have an EU passport for pets. The EU passport must be issued by a veterinarian.

Only certain countries outside the EU may issue passports that the animal can travel with. This applies to Andorra, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Northern Ireland, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican City State. These passports look like EU passports for pets but may have a different colour and the country's national emblem on the front instead of the EU flag. However, not all of these countries issue such pet passports. In these cases, the animal needs to travel with a health certificate for pets instead (form E9.207). Passports from other countries outside the EU are not valid for travel – instead the animal must have a health certificate.

If the country from which your animal is travelling does not accept other countries forms, the country can create its own health certificate based on the template found in Annex IV Part 1 of the EU´s Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 577/2013.

You can order the health certificate E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the health certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form Health certificate E9.207

The passport must, among other things, include information about:

• The animal's ID number and the date for ID-marking. The ID number must match the microchip number. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the passport.
• Rabies vaccination.
• Animal species, sex and date of birth of the animal.
• Name of pet owner. If a breeder is to sell a puppy to a foreign owner, it is the breeder who is the owner until the animal is delivered. Therefore, remember to enter your information in the passport when the animal is handed over to you. It is always the person last entered into the passport who is considered the current owner.
• Signature of the pet owner or owners. In order for the passport to be valid, the pet owner or owners must sign the last line under the telephone number before the veterinarian issues the passport.

Only designated veterinarians with EU credentials may issue EU passports or enter information in them.

If you are travelling from another EU country and have an animal with a European pet passport with you, you can give Swedish Customs notification of dogs and cats via the internet.

This does not apply for dogs from Norway.

When you arrive in Sweden, you can choose the green lane (“Nothing to declare”) in the surveillance area. If a customs officer asks, you must be able to present your notification number and the animal’s European pet passport.

You do not have to “denotify” (i.e. “notify the return of”) your dog or cat.

• Entry registration of dog or cat (tullverket.se)

Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, it may be denied entry into Sweden.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling with your pet from Andorra, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland or the Vatican City, you must have a pet owner declaration for pets that you have completed. You must use the pet owner declaration form for pets, E9.204. Through the pet owner's declaration, you certify that the animal is yours and that it is not travelling to be sold.

If your pet is travelling with you, you do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form. But if your pet travels with an authorised person, you must also fill in the box for a power of attorney at the bottom of the form.

Remember that if you travel more than 5 days before or after your pet and the authorised person, you also need to follow the rules for animals travelling without their owner.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

The primary vaccination against rabies becomes valid after 21 days, but note that when the animal travels to Sweden from a country outside the EU where the rabies situation is not under control, a titer test is also required. This means that a blood sample must be taken to the check that the animal has an approved amount of antibodies. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new titer test is also required.

You should make an appointment with a veterinarian to take a blood sample to check that the animal has a sufficient amount of antibodies against rabies. The test is called a titre test. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after the last rabies vaccination. A sample taken earlier is not valid. If two vaccinations are needed for the primary vaccination, you must wait at least 30 days after the second vaccination before the blood sample can be taken.

Example: Primary vaccination was given on 1 March and 1 April = blood tests can be taken on 1 May at the earliest. The sample may also be taken later, but the vaccination must still be valid.

The blood sample must be analysed by an EU-approved laboratory and must show at least 0.5 IU / ml. The laboratory must be approved for antibody testing for rabies.

If the animal has been revaccinated correctly after an approved blood test, no new blood test is required for the animal to be allowed to travel to Sweden.

• Approved laboratories for antibody testing of rabies, titer test (ec.europa.eu)

3 months waiting period before a health certificate may be issued

The health certificate required for entry into the EU cannot be issued until at least 3 months after the date on which the blood sample for the antibody test was taken. Check that the rabies vaccination does not expire during the waiting period. If the animal is not revaccinated before the expiry date, a new blood sample must be taken, which means that the waiting period of 3 months begins to apply after the new blood sample.

In cases where more than 30 days have passed between the vaccination and the blood test, the waiting time between the blood test and the certification does not decrease. It is always at least 3 months and we cannot grant an exemption from that.

The results of the antibody test must be entered in the health certificate before departure to Sweden. The animal's ID number must be in the test answer. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the test answer.

Exemption from the requirement of 3 months waiting period

Are you travelling from the EU with an animal that has an EU pet passport to a country outside the EU where rabies occurs? Then you should have the animal vaccinated against rabies and a rabies titration test done before the animal leaves the EU. If the vaccination and titre test are registered in the EU pet passport before the animal leaves the EU, you can travel back to the EU with the animal at any time during the rabies vaccination's validity period without waiting 3 months.

If the rabies vaccination has expired while the animal is outside the EU, you must, however, obtain a health certificate to be able to bring the animal back to the EU. Veterinarians in a country outside the EU are not allowed to enter information in an EU passport, and the vaccination will be considered invalid. The titre test and the rabies vaccination will then only remain valid if you give a booster vaccination for rabies abroad before it expires. As this vaccination cannot be written in the EU passport, you will need a health certificate instead.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is issued and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies and rabies titre test have been done and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU. By taking the titre test in Sweden before departure, you avoid the waiting period of 3 months, which is otherwise a requirement to return to Sweden.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. You may need a new rabies titre test if you fail to give the rabies booster vaccination before the previous vaccination expires. The titre test and the rabies vaccination will remain valid only if you give a rabies booster vaccination abroad before it expires. As this vaccination cannot be written in the EU passport, you will need a health certificate instead. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped and signed by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• certificate of rabies antibody test (titre test)
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

Your animal must be ID-marked with a chip.

Your animal must be microchipped before, or at the same time as, their rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.

Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to microchip animals.

The date for ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be in the animal's pet passport.

If the animal has been re-microchipped and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the passport.

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case euthanized. As there is always a risk that the chip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be microchipped.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in the animal’s passport in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after the specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

An animal that is brought into Sweden from another EU country must have an EU passport for pets. The EU passport must be issued by a veterinarian.

Only certain countries outside the EU may issue passports that the animal can travel with. This applies to Andorra, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Northern Ireland, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican City State. These passports look like EU passports for pets but may have a different colour and the country's national emblem on the front instead of the EU flag. However, not all of these countries issue such pet passports. In these cases, the animal needs to travel with a health certificate for pets instead (form E9.207). Passports from other countries outside the EU are not valid for travel – instead the animal must have a health certificate.

If the country from which your animal is travelling does not accept other countries forms, the country can create its own health certificate based on the template found in Annex IV Part 1 of the EU´s Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 577/2013.

You can order the health certificate E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the health certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form Health certificate E9.207

The passport must, among other things, include information about:

• The animal's ID number and the date for ID-marking. The ID number must match the microchip number. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the passport.
• Rabies vaccination.
• Animal species, sex and date of birth of the animal.
• Name of pet owner. If a breeder is to sell a puppy to a foreign owner, it is the breeder who is the owner until the animal is delivered. Therefore, remember to enter your information in the passport when the animal is handed over to you. It is always the person last entered into the passport who is considered the current owner.
• Signature of the pet owner or owners. In order for the passport to be valid, the pet owner or owners must sign the last line under the telephone number before the veterinarian issues the passport.

Only designated veterinarians with EU credentials may issue EU passports or enter information in them.

If you are travelling from another EU country and have an animal with a European pet passport with you, you can give Swedish Customs notification of dogs and cats via the internet.

This does not apply for dogs from Norway.

When you arrive in Sweden, you can choose the green lane (“Nothing to declare”) in the surveillance area. If a customs officer asks, you must be able to present your notification number and the animal’s European pet passport.

You do not have to “denotify” (i.e. “notify the return of”) your dog or cat.

• Entry registration of dog or cat (tullverket.se)

Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, it may be denied entry into Sweden.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the pet passport, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling with your pet from Andorra, Gibraltar, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland or the Vatican City, you must have a pet owner declaration for pets that you have completed. You must use the pet owner declaration form for pets, E9.204. Through the pet owner's declaration, you certify that the animal is yours and that it is not travelling to be sold.

If your pet is travelling with you, you do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form. But if your pet travels with an authorised person, you must also fill in the box for a power of attorney at the bottom of the form.

Remember that if you travel more than 5 days before or after your pet and the authorised person, you also need to follow the rules for animals travelling without their owner.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the veterinary certificate E9.207, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

The primary vaccination against rabies becomes valid after 21 days, but note that when the animal travels to Sweden from a country outside the EU where the rabies situation is not under control, a titer test is also required. This means that a blood sample must be taken to the check that the animal has an approved amount of antibodies. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new titer test is also required.

You should make an appointment with a veterinarian to take a blood sample to check that the animal has a sufficient amount of antibodies against rabies. The test is called a titre test. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after the last rabies vaccination. A sample taken earlier is not valid. If two vaccinations are needed for the primary vaccination, you must wait at least 30 days after the second vaccination before the blood sample can be taken.

Example: Primary vaccination was given on 1 March and 1 April = blood tests can be taken on 1 May at the earliest. The sample may also be taken later, but the vaccination must still be valid.

The blood sample must be analysed by an EU-approved laboratory and must show at least 0.5 IU / ml. The laboratory must be approved for antibody testing for rabies.

If the animal has been revaccinated correctly after an approved blood test, no new blood test is required for the animal to be allowed to travel to Sweden.

• Approved laboratories for antibody testing of rabies, titer test (ec.europa.eu)

3 months waiting period before a health certificate may be issued

The health certificate required for entry into the EU cannot be issued until at least 3 months after the date on which the blood sample for the antibody test was taken. Check that the rabies vaccination does not expire during the waiting period. If the animal is not revaccinated before the expiry date, a new blood sample must be taken, which means that the waiting period of 3 months begins to apply after the new blood sample.

In cases where more than 30 days have passed between the vaccination and the blood test, the waiting time between the blood test and the certification does not decrease. It is always at least 3 months and we cannot grant an exemption from that.

The results of the antibody test must be entered in the health certificate before departure to Sweden. The animal's ID number must be in the test answer. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the test answer.

Exemption from the requirement of 3 months waiting period

Are you travelling from the EU with an animal that has an EU pet passport to a country outside the EU where rabies occurs? Then you should have the animal vaccinated against rabies and a rabies titration test done before the animal leaves the EU. If the vaccination and titre test are registered in the EU pet passport before the animal leaves the EU, you can travel back to the EU with the animal at any time during the rabies vaccination's validity period without waiting 3 months.

If the rabies vaccination has expired while the animal is outside the EU, you must, however, obtain a health certificate to be able to bring the animal back to the EU. Veterinarians in a country outside the EU are not allowed to enter information in an EU passport, and the vaccination will be considered invalid. The titre test and the rabies vaccination will then only remain valid if you give a booster vaccination for rabies abroad before it expires. As this vaccination cannot be written in the EU passport, you will need a health certificate instead.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is issued and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies and rabies titre test have been done and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU. By taking the titre test in Sweden before departure, you avoid the waiting period of 3 months, which is otherwise a requirement to return to Sweden.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. You may need a new rabies titre test if you fail to give the rabies booster vaccination before the previous vaccination expires. The titre test and the rabies vaccination will remain valid only if you give a rabies booster vaccination abroad before it expires. As this vaccination cannot be written in the EU passport, you will need a health certificate instead. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped and signed by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• certificate of rabies antibody test (titre test)
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the veterinary certificate E9.207, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are bringing in a cat from Australia, you must certify in writing that the cat has not been kept in facilities where there have been cases of Hendra disease during the last 60 days before the trip.

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

If you are bringing in a cat from Australia, you must certify in writing that the cat has not been kept in facilities where there have been cases of Hendra disease during the last 60 days before the trip.

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

If you are bringing in a cat from Australia, you must certify in writing that the cat has not been kept in facilities where there have been cases of Hendra disease during the last 60 days before the trip.

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the veterinary certificate E9.207, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

If you are bringing in a cat from Australia, you must certify in writing that the cat has not been kept in facilities where there have been cases of Hendra disease during the last 60 days before the trip.

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the veterinary certificate E9.207, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

There is a general ban on bringing dogs, cats and ferrets from Malaysia due to Nipah disease. However, you can bring in an animal from Malaysia if you can meet the additional requirements in the list below.

• You must certify in writing that the animal has not been in contact with pigs for 60 days before the trip.
• You must certify in writing that the animal has not been kept in facilities where there have been cases of Nipah disease during the last 60 days before the trip.
• The animal must have been sampled within 10 days before the trip and showed a negative result in an ELISA test for examination of IgG. The laboratory that analysed the answer must be approved by the country's veterinary authority.

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

There is a general ban on bringing dogs, cats and ferrets from Malaysia due to Nipah disease. However, you can bring in an animal from Malaysia if you can meet the additional requirements in the list below.

• You must certify in writing that the animal has not been in contact with pigs for 60 days before the trip.
• You must certify in writing that the animal has not been kept in facilities where there have been cases of Nipah disease during the last 60 days before the trip.
• The animal must have been sampled within 10 days before the trip and showed a negative result in an ELISA test for examination of IgG. The laboratory that analysed the answer must be approved by the country's veterinary authority.

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

There is a general ban on bringing dogs, cats and ferrets from Malaysia due to Nipah disease. However, you can bring in an animal from Malaysia if you can meet the additional requirements in the list below.

• You must certify in writing that the animal has not been in contact with pigs for 60 days before the trip.
• You must certify in writing that the animal has not been kept in facilities where there have been cases of Nipah disease during the last 60 days before the trip.
• The animal must have been sampled within 10 days before the trip and showed a negative result in an ELISA test for examination of IgG. The laboratory that analysed the answer must be approved by the country's veterinary authority.

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the veterinary certificate E9.207, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade

There is a general ban on bringing dogs, cats and ferrets from Malaysia due to Nipah disease. However, you can bring in an animal from Malaysia if you can meet the additional requirements in the list below.

• You must certify in writing that the animal has not been in contact with pigs for 60 days before the trip.
• You must certify in writing that the animal has not been kept in facilities where there have been cases of Nipah disease during the last 60 days before the trip.
• The animal must have been sampled within 10 days before the trip and showed a negative result in an ELISA test for examination of IgG. The laboratory that analysed the answer must be approved by the country's veterinary authority.

• Your animal must be ID-marked with an ISO microchip.
• Your animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination. If your animal is microchipped after, they will need to be vaccinated again.
• Microchipping must be done by a veterinarian or by a person who holds approval to michrochip animals.
• The date of ID marking or reading of ID marking and the ID number must be stated in the animal's health certificate.
• If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.
  

If the animal is checked at the border and the microchip is not legible, the animal can be sent back to the country from which it came, possibly quarantined or in the worst case, euthanized. As there is always a risk that the microchip is not legible, you can bring your own chip reader for safety. You will need to bring your own microchip reader if the animal is not marked with an ISO microchip.

If your animal has a legible tattoo that according to a certificate was made before 3 July 2011, your animal does not need to be marked with a microchip.

The animal must be vaccinated against rabies. The first vaccination that builds up the protection, also called primary vaccination, can consist of one or two doses. The vaccine must be approved in the country where the vaccination takes place.

The animal must be microchipped and at least 12 weeks old to receive the primary vaccination. The animal must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination in order for the vaccination to be valid. If the animal is already microchipped, the microchip must be read before the vaccine is given.

The details of the vaccination must be entered into the animal’s passport or health certificate and it must be stated that the microchip has been implanted and/or read no later than the same day as the vaccine is given.

After the primary vaccination, you must wait 21 days before travelling with the animal.

Example 1: Vaccination with one dose given on 1 January = travel no earlier than 22 January.

Example 2: Vaccination with two does on 1 January and 1 February = travel no earlier than 22 February.

Revaccination

The validity of the vaccine may vary from country to country.

When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian will specify the validity of the vaccine in accordance with the rules in the country where the animal is located. The validity period of the vaccine must be written in the passport or health certificate. Please note, that only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU pet passport. If you want to continue travelling with your animal, you must ensure that the animal is revaccinated no later than the expiration date written by the veterinarian.

If the animal has been revaccinated within the specified period of validity, no waiting period of 21 days is required before you can travel with it.

Delayed re-vaccination

If an animal is revaccinated after specified period of validity, in other words the previous vaccination has expired, the revaccination is counted as the new primary vaccination. Then a new waiting time of 21 days is also required before the animal can travel again.

Animals brought into Sweden from a country outside the EU must have a health certificate that is filled in and stamped by an official veterinarian or the central veterinary authority in the country in question.

In some cases, it is possible to use the EU pet passport

If you travel from Sweden or another EU country, you can use the animal's EU pet passport for the journey back to Sweden, provided that the vaccination against rabies has been made and entered in the passport before you left the EU. Therefore, make sure that the vaccination is valid throughout your stay outside the EU.

If the vaccination expires during the trip, however, you need to obtain a health certificate in which the new vaccination can be entered. Only EU veterinarians can enter information into an EU passport.

There are two different health certificates

There are two health certificates. The animal needs the health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in these cases:

• The animal will change owner after it has been brought into Sweden, for example the animals is to be sold, rehomed or adopted.
• The animal does not travel with the owner, but with another person (authorised person). The owner makes the same trip, more than 5 days before or after the animal.
• The animal travels in a group of more than 5 animals.
  

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is modelled on Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation 2021/403. The model is also available to the official veterinarian in the TRACES.NT system.

In all other cases, the animal needs the health certificate E9.207. You can order the form E9.207 from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before leaving Sweden. We will send the certificate by post to your home address in Sweden within about a week. Take the form with you on the trip so that an official veterinarian in the country outside the EU can fill it in.

• Order the form health certificate E9.207

If the country from which your animal is to travel does not accept other countries' forms, the country can create its own certificate based on the template of E9.207 in Annex IV Part 1 of EU Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 or CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS in Chapter 38 of Annex II to EU Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403.

This is an official veterinarian

An official veterinarian is a state appointed veterinarian who has a central role in the work of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. An official veterinarian may have different titles in different countries.

Official veterinarians are not available in all countries. If the country does not have official veterinarians, you should instead hire a licensed veterinarian to fill in the health certificate E9.207 and then have the certificate stamped by the central veterinary authority in the country. You must contact the veterinary authority well ahead of time for instructions of how this should be done.

Please note, the CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS certificate must always be issued by an official veterinarian.

Show this to the veterinarian

In order for the veterinarian to issue the health certificate, you must present these documents:

• certificate of ID-marking
• certificate of rabies vaccination
• a pet owner declaration.

These papers must then be stapled together with the health certificate into a single booklet. All pages must be numbered (for example 1 of 6 or 1 (6), ie page 1 of a total of 6 pages), and the reference number at the top right of the health certificate must be written on all pages. Lastly, the veterinarian must stamp and sign all pages.

The animal's ID number must be in the health certificate and it must match the ID marking. If the animal has been re-marked and therefore has two ID numbers, both must be entered in the health certificate.

Validity Period

Once the health certificate has been stamped by the official veterinarian or by the central veterinary authority, you have 10 days to travel with your animal to a so-called Entry Point in the EU. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry where pets brought in from a country outside the EU can be examined. In Sweden, there are such Entry Points at Arlanda and Landvetter airports.

The health certificate E9.207 needs to be stamped at the Entry point in the first EU country the animal arrives at. After this, the certificate is then valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of first entry into the EU (the date the certificate was stamped), or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, depending on which occurs first.

The health certificate CANIS-FELIS-FERRETS is valid for 10 days from the date of issue until arrival at the border control post in the first EU country. In this case, the animal needs to arrive via a border control post.

If you and your pet are going to travel to the same place but cannot go together, you should book the animal's trip within 5 days before or after your own trip. The animal must then, in addition to a pet passport or veterinary certificate, have these documents with them:

• A pet owner declaration for pets stating that your pet (ID number and passport number) may be transported by the agent or shipping company you are to hire and that the pet is not to be sold. Remember to fill in the box for power of attorney at the bottom of the form.
• Copies of your own ticket or booking, so you can see when you go and where.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

When you travel with a group of more than 5 animals over 6 months of age who are to participate in an exhibition, competition or sporting event, or are to be trained before such an event, you must, in addition to the veterinary certificate E9.207, bring with you a written proof that the animals have registered with an ID number to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization that arranges such events.

Examples of valid documents are the current exhibition or competition catalogue or pedigrees from, for example, the Swedish Kennel Club, provided that the animals' ID numbers are included.

An animal that is brought into the EU can only be brought in through a so-called Entry Point. Entry Points are specially designated places of entry for pets where the animals' identities and accompanying documents can be checked. The animal must be taken in through an Entry Point in the first EU country it arrives to. Customs check the animal and stamp the health certificate in the box at the bottom of the last page. For example, if you have bought an animal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and travel by road via Croatia to Sweden, then Croatia is the so-called Entry Point in your case.

Only if the health certificate has been stamped at Entry Point is it valid for travel within the EU for 4 months from the date of the stamp or until the rabies vaccination stated in the certificate expires, whichever occurs first.

If the animal enters via another EU country

If the animal travels into the EU via an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal must therefore be checked there before it can travel on to Sweden. Then the health certificate must also be stamped. If the entry stamp is missing, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden.

The animal can then be brought into Sweden via an optional customs declaration post, where you must report to the Swedish customs at a so-called red file or corridor, that you are taking in an animal. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website. If the animal is not reported to customs, the animal may be denied entry into Sweden or, in the worst case, euthanized.

• The Swedish Customs' information about travelling with a dog and cat (tullverket.se)

• Entry Points in the EU (ec.europa.eu)

The animal comes directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU

For animals that come directly to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you should plan your arrival only via Arlanda Airport in Stockholm or Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

You must fill in the form E9.204. You thereby certify that the animal is yours and that it is not moved to change owner, for example to be sold, rehomed, adopted or given away. You do not need to fill in the power of attorney box at the bottom of the form if you are travelling with your animal yourself.

• Form: Pet owner declaration pet E9.204

If your animal is to travel by air, the airlines may have their own rules for the flight, which must also be fulfilled. Contact the airline for information on what rules apply for your trip.

You can also read on the International Air Transport Association's website (IATA). IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines and often formulates industry policy and standards for airlines rules. Among other things, IATA has rules on cage dimensions.

• IATA's rules for travelling with animals by air (iata.org)

If you are travelling via other countries with your animal, extra requirements may apply for you to be able to bring it into Sweden. Do a new search here in the travel guide to read the rules that apply when you travel to Sweden with an animal from the country you are travelling through.

Please note that other countries may have specific requirements that your animal must meet in order to travel through them.

If you and your animal travel to Sweden by plane and stop over at an airport in a country where the rabies situation is not under control, the animal does not always have to meet the requirement for a blood test that shows antibodies against rabies (titer test). This applies provided the animal does not leave the airport. This needs to be certified in an animal owner declaration for transit. Read more about this on our web pages about travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets:

• Movement of dogs, cats or ferrets to Sweden – both travel and trade