What you need to know when planning your trip

Travel options

Pet Passport

Animal Health certificate

Since Brexit we have encountered many changes to travel requirements when taking your pets on their holidays. As we are no longer members of the EU we must now look to what new paperwork is required for your pet to travel. The pet passport scheme is still one option for your pets to travel, so if your pet has a current issue EU blue pet passport (not a UK issue) then you can still take advantage of the pet passport scheme and travel as before. Please refer to the information on pet passports to ensure you have everything needed. If like many you are now in possession of a UK issued pet passport, then you can only use this to return to the UK from Europe. All future travel must be done on a Animal Health Certificate (AHC) which can be obtained from any UK vet which has a official veterinarian. Again please look at the information about AHC on this page as you need to be aware of timescales and there issue.

A European pet passport is a document, which follows an EU standard model and is essential for travel between EU countries. It contains a description and details of your pet, including its microchip or tattoo code as well as its rabies vaccination record and contact details of the owner and the vet who issued the passport. You can get a European pet passport for your dog, cat or ferret from any authorised vet (permitted by the relevant authorities to issue pet passports). A pet passport is valid for life as long as your pets rabies vaccination is in date. This link shows you how a pet passport should be completed correctly and is important that you ensure your pet has their passports completed correctly to avoid any delays or complications at borders.

https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/daera/ET159%20NI%20-%20How%20to%20Complete%20Pet%20Passports%20-%20Feb%2021.pdf

From 1 January 2021 Great Britain (GB) will become a Third Country with respect to the EU Pet Travel Scheme. The EU has voted in favour of giving the United Kingdom (UK) Part 2 listed status for the purposes of non-commercial pet travel after the Transition Period. This listed status will be formally adopted by the EU in due course. You will now need Animal Health Certificates (AHCs) for pet dogs, cats and ferrets travelling to the EU from GB from 1 January 2021. An AHC can only be issued by an Official Veterinarian (OV) who holds the appropriate Companion Animal (CA) or Small Animal (SX) Official Controls Qualification (Veterinarian) (OCQ(V)) and is duly authorised by APHA. An AHC is valid for entry to the EU for up to ten days from its date of issue, and for up to four months for onward travel within the EU and/or for re-entry to GB.

The link here shows you a completed AHC which is correct and you can use this to ensure your own pets documents are completed correctly.

OVs must sign and stamp the veterinary certificate with the OV stamp in ink in a different colour to that of the printing. To make a certified copy: the certifying OV should photocopy the original document … On each copy, the OV should write the words ‘Certified Copy’ in the top right-hand corner and initial (it is also correct to add a signature, date and an OV stamp).All documentation should be stapled together and all pages (as opposed to sheets of paper) must be signed and stamped once individually and in addition to any permitted alterations. Text clauses within the certificate that do not apply should be struck through with a single horizontal line. Boxes within tables that do not apply should be struck through with a single diagonal line with the exception, for dogs only, of boxes in the anti-tapeworm treatment table referred to in clause. It is not necessary to apply the OV stamp or initial when deleting optional conditions.

http://purrfectpettransport.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/AHC09_example.pdf