Bringing a dog, cat or ferret from a non-listed country outside the EU

Below you can read about

1. From which countries do the requirements apply?
2. Under what circumstances do these requirements apply?
3. Requirements for bringing a dog, cat or ferret which is not to be sold
4. Special requirements for animals travelling without their owner
5. Special requirements for more than five animals travelling in a group

1. From which countries do the requirements apply?

A country outside the EU that does not have a functional rabies surveillance system is called a non-listed country. More extensive conditions apply for those who want to bring an animal from a non-listed country.

If the country you want to bring an animal from cannot be found in the List of countries under the heading More information, it is non-listed.

2. Under what circumstances do these requirements apply?

The requirements apply when up to five dogs, cats or ferrets are travelling to Sweden with their owner or the owner’s representative. They also apply for animals moving to Sweden with their owner.    

Example 1. You, as the owner, are buying an animal from Thailand for your own company. You travel to Thailand to complete the purchase and directly afterwards travel back to Sweden together with your animal. In this case the animals travels as a pet.

Example 2. You, as the owner, are buying an animal from Thailand for your own company. The seller of the animal meets you in Denmark to hand over the animal. You go to Denmark, complete the purchase and thereafter bring the animal with you back to Sweden. In this case the animal must comply with the trade requirements.

Example 3. You, as the owner, are buying an animal from Thailand for your own company. You and a friend of yours travel to Thailand to complete the purchase. You leave for Sweden earlier than your friend who later brings the animal with him or her also back to Sweden. In case the friend travels within five days of your own trip and has an owner’s declaration for pets and a copy of your trip or ticket, it will travel as a pet. If the pet does not travel with these documents or if the friends travels more than five days later than you do, the animal must comply with the trade requirements.

3. Requirements for bringing a dog, cat or ferret which is not to be sold

The animal must be id-marked

You must start with having the animal id-marked with an ISO-microchip, which may also be called a Euro-chip. However, if your animal was tattooed already before 3 July 2011, it does not need to be microchipped. If the animal is checked at the border and the id-number cannot be read, the animal may be rejected.

Primary vaccination
The animal must have a valid rabies vaccination. The very first vaccination which builds up the defence is called a primary vaccination and consists of one or two shots. The animal must be id-marked and at least twelve weeks old to have its primary vaccination. The vaccination should be administered with an approved vaccine according to the requirements in appendix III in regulation (EU) no 576/2013. Note that the administered vaccine should be approved in the country of origin and it may therefore have different validity periods in different countries.

Revaccination
If you want to travel more than once, you will need to revaccinate your animal regularly. How often your animal needs to be revaccinated varies between the vaccine brand and how it is registered in different countries. When the animal is vaccinated, the veterinarian fills in the data in the passport or the veterinary certificate and notes the validity time registered in the country where the vaccination is given. You must follow the revaccination intervals registered in the passport or veterinary certificate, which means you must have the animal revaccinated at the latest on the last date of validity stated in the passport or veterinary certificate.

Delayed revaccination
If an animal is revaccinated after last validity date of the latest rabies vaccination, the revaccination will be equal to a primary vaccination. This also requires a new blood test for rabies antibodies.

The animal must have an approved level of antibodies against rabies

You have to make an appointment with a veterinarian to get a blood sample, in order to check that the animal has enough antibodies against rabies. The blood sample may not be collected until at least 30 days have passed after the most recent rabies vaccination. If the sample is collected earlier than that it is not valid, and we cannot allow any exceptions from this rule. If the animal needs two vaccinations to form a base, you have to wait until 30 days after the second vaccination before the blood sample may be collected.

Example: The basic vaccination was done on 1 March and on 1 April. The blood sample can then be collected on 1 May at the earliest. The sample may also be collected later, but the vaccination must still be valid.

The blood sample is to be analysed by an approved laboratory, and must show a value of at least 0.5 IU/ml.

If the animal has been revaccinated correctly once the blood sample has been collected, you do not need to collect a new sample in order for the animal to be allowed in Sweden.

Three months must pass before the veterinary certificate may be issued

The veterinary certificate you need in order to bring the animals into the EU must not be issued until at least three months have passed after the collection of the blood sample for the antibody check. Please make sure that the rabies vaccination does not expire during this period. If the animal is not revaccinated within the vaccination’s period of validity, you need to get a new blood sample.

This waiting period is not made shorter in case more than 30 days pass from the vaccination and the collection of the blood sample. The waiting period is always at least three months, and we cannot allow any exceptions form this rule.

Case in which the three month waiting period does not apply
If you intend to bring an animal that has an EU passport from the EU to a non-listed country and back again, you should have the animal vaccinated and the blood sample collected for the antibody check before the animal leaves the EU. If the vaccination and the blood sample are noted in the passport before the animal leaves the EU, you can return to the EU with the animal at any point in time as long as the rabies vaccination remains valid. In other words, you do not need to wait three months. However, if the rabies vaccination expires, you have to get a veterinary certificate in order to bring the animal back to the EU. This is because veterinarians in non-listed countries are not allowed to enter information into EU passports.

The animal must have a veterinary certificate on form E9.207 or an EU passport

Veterinary certificate for one to five animals
If you are to bring one to five animals from a non-listed country, you need to get an official veterinarian to complete the veterinary certificate for pets. An official veterinarian is a Government veterinarian who has the right to issue export certificates. If the country has no official veterinarians, you may instead let an ordinary veterinarian issue the certificate and then have it stamped by the central veterinary authority. Please contact the authority in the country of export well before departure and ask for written information about how to do this.

You need to present the veterinarian with four documents: a certificate of identification, a certificate of rabies vaccination, the result of the rabies antibody test and an owner’s declaration. These four documents are then to be attached to the veterinary certificate. All pages need to be numbered (for instance 1 (6), which would mean page one of a total of six pages), and the reference number at the top right corner of the veterinary certificate shall be noted on each page. Finally, the veterinarian is to stamp and sign every page.

Once the certificate has been issued, you have ten days to travel to an EU Entry Point.

If the exporting country does not accept forms from other countries', the country may issue their own certificate if it follows the template available in the EU decision. Contact the Swedish Board of Agriculture's Customer Service and you will get a link to the decision via email.

EU passport
If you are returning to the EU with an animal that already has an EU passport, you do not need a veterinary certificate as long as the rabies vaccination is still valid. If the rabies vaccination in the passport expires while you are abroad, you must instead use a veterinary certificate when returning to the EU.

The animal must have an owner’s declaration for pets

You must complete form E9.204, which is the owner’s declaration for pets. You can find it in the right-hand column. This means that you declare that the animal belongs to you and that you are not moving it in order to sell it. The box for authorisation at the bottom of the form is not used when you are travelling with your own animal.

The animal must be reported for control at an EU Point of Entry

An animal that comes from a non-EU country must be brought into the EU at a so-called Entry Point. Two Entry Points are available for animals that are brought directly to Sweden from a non-EU country: Arlanda airport in Stockholm, and Landvetter airport in Gothenburg.

At the Entry Point, the animal is to be checked by the customs authority. If you are to continue to another EU country, the customs authority (the Swedish customs) has to stamp the certificate before you continue your journey. In such a case, you should contact the customs authority in advance and agree on a time, so that you do not have to wait to get your documents stamped.

The veterinary certificate is valid for four months for travelling within the EU from the date of the stamp, or until the rabies vaccination referred to in the certificate is no longer valid, whichever comes first.

If the animal is brought into the EU through an Entry Point in another EU country, the animal is to be checked there and the veterinary certificate stamped before the animal is allowed to continue. Contact the Entry Point to get more information on how this is done. The animal may then be brought into Sweden through any customs location, where you are to report the animal to the customs authority.

4. Special requirements for pets travelling without their owner

The animal travels within five days of the owner’s travel to the same destination

If you and your animal are travelling to the same place but cannot travel together, you should book your animal’s travel within five days before or after your own travel. The animal needs to be accompanied with the following three documents:

1. The veterinary certificate E9.207
2. An authorization from you to your representative or to the transport company/its representative, giving authority to transport your animal (state name and ID-number) without commercial purposes. 
3. Copies of your own ticket or booking, to clarify when and where to you are travelling.

The animal travels more than five days before or after the owner or independent of the owner

If your animal must travel more than five days before or after your travel or without you travelling at all, there are two options:

Option one: The animal travels with your representative and needs the following two documents:

1. EU passport showing ID-number and valid rabies vaccination.
2. An owner’s declaration including authorization from you to your representative to transport your animal (state name and ID-number) without commercial purposes.

Please observe that not all EU countries allow pets to travel with the owner’s representative more than five days before or after the owner. These countries regard all pets travelling without their owner as trade animals, regardless if they travel with the owner’s representative or not. You need to check if the countries you are travelling through accept pets with owner’s representative.

Option two: The animal travels as freight and must comply with the requirements for trade animals.

5. Special requirements for six or more animals travelling in a group

Travelling for shows, competitions or sports events or training for such events

Are you travelling with six or more animals over six months of age which are going to participate in a show, competition or sports event or train for such an event? You then need to bring:

1. The veterinary certificates showing that the animals are ID-marked and rabies vaccinated and have valid blood test result.
2. Written evidence that the animals are registered either to participate in the event or that they are registered in an organization which arranges such events.

Valid documents can consist of the catalogue of participants from a show or event or a pedigree issued by a dog or cat organization arranging shows or competitions, provided that the ID-number of the animal is stated.

Six or more animals which are not travelling for shows, competitions or sports events or training for such events

If you are travelling with six or more animals which are not going to participate in a show, competition or sports event or to train for such an event, the animals need to comply with the requirements for trade animals. The same requirements apply for those animals in the group which are less than six months old.