31 December 2020

Pet Travel is Changing

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Claire, Vet

Now that the UK and the EU have agreed a deal, it has been confirmed that from 11pm on the 31st December 2020 Pet Passports will no longer be valid for your pet to enter the EU. Pets must be issued with an Animal Health Certificate for travel to the EU and Northern Ireland.

A lot of our clients from Deal and Sandwich regularly take their pets to France and we have put together the following 10 tips based on the current guidance released by the Government to help with planning any future trips to the EU.

  1. Pets must be vaccinated against rabies to travel. The vaccine must have been administered at least 21 days before a certificate can be completed.
  2. Pets must have a microchip before the rabies vaccination is administered.
  3. A certificate is required for each trip to the EU or NI.
  4. An Animal Health Certificate can be issued a maximum of 10 days before travel.
  5. An AHC allows travel within the EU and NI for up to 4 months. Once a pet leaves the EU and NI the pet will require a new AHC
  6. Entry to the EU and NI can only be made via the country for which the AHC has been completed. If entry to the EU is via France, the AHC will be completed in French and English. Changing the country of entry will require a new AHC.
  7. The certificate requires a considerable amount of time to complete. It is therefore important that an AHC is requested in good time.
  8. All of our vets are certified by the UK Government to provide Animal Health Certificates.
  9. There is currently no requirement for a blood test for rabies antibodies when travelling from Great Britain to the EU or Northern Island
  10. For some countries, dogs must be treated for Tapeworm 24 to 120 hours before re-entry to the UK.

If you have any questions or queries about Animal Health Certificates, please send us a message.

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