As of 1 January 2021, UK public health authorities will be enforcing sanitary and phytosanitary import controls for animals and animal products and plants and plant products.

In October 2020, British authorities indicated in their guide to how the border with the European Union will work that there would be no immediate change in 2021 to the EU Pet Travel Scheme allowing the non-commercial movement of pets from the EU to the UK (excluding Northern Irland). As a reminder, all exports of domestic carnivores for commercial purposes must be subject to a pre-notification request and official health certification by the veterinary services of the DD(CS)PP of your department before the animals are shipped.

Any changes to the UK’s requirements for travelling with pets will be published online here: www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-uk.

As it currently stands, the following conditions must be met to travel with a pet dog, cat or ferret (for non-commercial purposes):

1. Your pet must be microchipped.

2. Your must have a pet passport or third-country official veterinary certificate.

3. Your pet must have a valid rabies vaccination (your pet must be at least 12 weeks old before receiving their first rabies vaccine and you must wait 21 days after vaccination for it to be valid).

Note: A blood sample (testing for rabies antibody level) will also be required if your pet is travelling from a country that the UK has deemed “unlisted”.

Important: Pets could be put into quarantine for up to 4 months, at the owner’s expense, if the above requirements are not met.

You cannot bring more than 5 pets into the UK, unless you will be participating in a competition, show or sporting event. In that case, the owner (or authorised representative) will need to submit written evidence that the pet is registered for the event. Pets must be over 6 months old.

Other details:

Dogs travelling to Great Britain and Northern Ireland (but also to the Republic of Ireland) must, in addition to the above conditions :

• be at least 3 months old;
• have been treated for tapeworm (Echinococcus multilocularis) no less than 24 hours and no more than 120 hours before arrival (and this treatment must be recorded in the pet passport by the administering vet).

You cannot bring a dog into the UK on a private boat.

For more information, you can download a fact sheet on travelling to the UK with a domestic carnivore(s) (UPDATE: 30/11/2020) (PDF, 452.37 KB) (in French)

Any changes to the UK’s requirements will be published here: www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-uk.

NB : This section does not apply to people living in Northern Ireland. The European rules regarding travelling with domestic carnivores within the EU continue to apply to Northen Ireland.

1/ It will no longer be possible to enter the European Union with an EU pet passport issued in Great Britain from 1 January 2021.

2/ If you are living in Great Britain and travelling with a dog, a cat or a ferret from the Great Britain to France, you should comply with the requirements imposed by  Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 :

• Make sure your pet is identified by the implantation of an electronic transponder or by a clearly readable tattoo if applied before 3 July 2011.
• Make sure your pet has a valid anti-rabies vaccination (the animal was at least 12 weeks old at the date the vaccine was administered; the period of validity of the vaccination starts not less than 21 days from the completion of the vaccination protocol ; the date of administration of the vaccine does not precede the date of identification).
• Make sure your pet is accompanied by a health certificate issued by an official veterinarian in the UK, together with a proof of vaccination against rabies and a document proving your pet is identified. The health certificate is valid for 10 days from the date of issuance and has to be presented for import checks within these 10 days of validity. The health is valid for a total of four months within the EU and Northern Ireland.

If your pet (dog, cat, ferret) has a European pet passport (not issued by UK authorities), you will not need a health certificate signed by the UK Veterinary Services unless the rabies vaccination (or booster) was carried out in the UK after 31 December 2020.

For more information, the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food has published an information note on the import of pets from third countries.

Find all the useful information in the flyer on domestic carnivores on import (in French).

3/ If you are living in the EU (or in Northern Ireland) and returning from Great Britain to the EU with a dog, a cat or a ferret from the Great Britain to France after a temporary movement to Great Britain, you will have  to  be  accompanied  by  a  duly  filled-in  EU  pet  passport (not issued by UK authorities). This passport must attest a valid anti-rabies vaccination and has to be presented for import checks.