Social media remains awash with post Brexit scaremongering! ‘They’re going to abolish the pet passport system’ is just one headline I’ve read recently, although it doesn’t appear to have any foundation in fact.

For those of us who now regularly travel with our pets (I’m predominantly talking about dogs, but I have met a few cats and even the occasional holidaying ferret while I’ve been on my travels), there are potentially big changes a foot. In my experience, few pet owners seem to know what’s going on, and even fewer vets. In fact, my vet told me my dog needed a £170 blood test. On any reading of the DEFRA guidelines, it’s clear that he didn’t.

A little bit of revision

I’ve heard quite a lot of references to the fact we’ll “revert to the old Pet Passport rules” after Brexit. When asked, not many people seem to know what this means but it is important to understand if you want to make sense of the current DEFRA advice and gossip!

The first Pet Passport scheme

The Pet Passport scheme was first introduced in February 2000. Your dog could now travel without going into quarantine, provided they were microchipped, vaccinated against rabies and had had a rabies blood test 4 months after the vaccination. You then had to wait another 6 months from the blood test before they could arrive back in the UK. Your dog also had to be treated by a vet for tapeworm 1-5 days before its arrival back in the UK and the treatment recorded (with exact times) in the passport.

The time frame of these rules was eventually relaxed so that a blood test could be taken (at least) 30 days after your pet was vaccinated and you only had to wait 3 months before you could travel.

The most recent Pet Passport scheme

In 2014 some important changes were introduced which relaxed the time frame even more.

The main provisions were:

• a new minimum age of 12 weeks before a pet can be vaccinated against rabies
• but you only had to wait 21 days from the date of vaccination before travel.

All pets under this scheme are still required to have a microchip which confirms the animal’s identity, but tick treatment was no longer a legal requirement.

So, what’s going to happen after the 29^th March?

It’s a good question and it’s nothing short of amazing that DEFRA’s most recent advice is dated November last year! They did issue updated guidance in December but withdrew it in January. And brace yourself – the existing guidance is vague, confusing and in some instances, doesn’t seem to make any sense!

Broadly speaking after the 29^th March, one of three things will happen:

In the event we secure a deal. The UK will probably be given something called either Part 1 or Part 2 status. Part 1 status should mean the Pet Passport scheme will remain pretty much the same as it is. If we’re given Part 2 status, the current rules will probably be modified and pets will now require a Health Certificate to travel (see below) but other than that, no major changes.

We leave the EU on a no deal basis. This is the worst case scenario. It changes the UK’s status to something called Part 3 and means the rules for pet travel could change roughly as follows:

You’ll still need your dog to be microchipped and vaccinated against rabies. The blood test will then need to be taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination. Provided the test is successful, the rules will go back to requiring you to wait 3 months from the date of the successful blood sample before you travel. But this is for first time dog travellers only, provided your dog’s rabies vaccinations are kept up to date with boosters.

A new Health Certificate provision

An additional provision will require you to take your dog to a vet, no more than 10 days before travel to get a Health Certificate. Your pet will need a Health Certificate for each trip to the EU.

Your certificate would be valid for:

10 days after the date of issue for entry into the EU

4 months of onward travel within the EU

Re-entry to the UK for 4 months after the date of issue.

“Pet passports issued in the UK would not be valid for travel to the EU.”

The guidelines clearly state pet passports issued in the UK will not be valid. In my opinion, this makes absolutely no sense! I have been unable to find any clarification of what this means and am left asking whether it’s me or DEFRA being stupid.

Return to the UK

Your pet must have one of the following documents when returning to the UK:

An existing EU pet passport (both for UK and EU citizens)

The EU Health Certificate issued in the UK used to travel to the EU

A UK pet Health Certificate (issued outside the UK for travel into the UK only).

Clear as mud?

The long and short of it appears to be that first-time travellers and young dogs will have to wait longer before they can travel, and the new Health Certificate requirement is going to be onerous and expensive for regular travellers. As for UK issued passports? Watch this space.

And what of those of us determined to travel? Well, I’m due to travel with my two Leonbergers respectively aged 4 and 5 months on the 30^th March. Interesting choice of timing I know but I’ve lined all my ducks up in a row as far as I’m able. Will I be able to get back into the UK? Who knows? But if you see me parked up somewhere near Calais, feel free to throw me a bone!

The post Preparing your pet for travel post-Brexit appeared first on The Good Life France.

Does your new pet passport fall foul of the rules?

Last week I travelled back from France to the UK with my two dogs. We’re frequent travellers so I know the pet passport rules and it’s the third time this year we’ve travelled using the dogs’ current passports. The passports are almost identical having been issued at the same time, by the same vet using the same stamps so you can imagine my surprise when I was stopped at pet passport control at Calais and told I couldn’t travel because one of the passports wasn’t valid. Even though we’ve travelled on this passport before. And I wasn’t alone, there were half dozen other travellers being told the same.

The new scheme for pet Passport entry into UK

It turns out one of my dogs’ passports was issued under the new scheme which came into force at the end of last year. And one of the changes that the new scheme brought in concerns the details of the stamp used on page 8 of the passport (the Rabies page) by the vet who issued the passport. It is no longer sufficient just to have just an “Official Veterinarian” stamp. Instead the verification must include the name, address, telephone number and signature of the vet (notwithstanding that these details appear on the page before and didn’t appear at all under the old scheme).

Although the rule came into force some time ago, it clearly hasn’t been enforced until now and it’s tempting to think that with the new building and new uniforms have come a new approach. It’s also not easy to spot whether you have a new or old scheme passport as from the outside they are more or less identical. However inside the new passports have a different layout and laminated areas.

The morale of the story

I was eventually allowed to travel but only after my vet in the UK had been contacted and had completed and faxed back (yes faxed) a particular form. Had they not done so on the day I was due to travel, I was told I couldn’t travel at all.

So, if you are travelling with your pet to and from France:

1. Even if you think you are compliant, double check before you go. Your vet in the UK and France should know the rules but they don’t always. I’ve had a vet in France refuse to sign as well as stamp the passport, until I begged him to humour me. And don’t assume if there are changes to the scheme and the headline changes don’t apply to you, that you haven’t been affected. There’s lots of help online https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad if you are in any doubt.

2. Hard as it may be, don’t lose your temper in passport control. The changes are ridiculous and they said as much to me. But I was dealt with much quicker than my fellow travellers who lost their cool. In fact, the lady dealing with me couldn’t have done more for me, even calling my vet in the UK for me and generally calming my mounting sense of panic.

It’s great that that pet lovers can take their pets with them to France and back these days and such a change from when I was a child and there were long periods of quarantine. But it is important to remember that the rules surrounding taking pets abroad are evolving and you have to keep a firm eye on the changes.

(Dated September 2015)

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If you’re travelling in the EU with your pet you need to be aware of changes that came into effect at the end of 2014.

Existing passports will be valid for the lifetime of the pet or until there’s no more room to update the treatment spaces in the passport.

New passports issued from 29 December 2014: new pet passports will include laminated strips and a requirement for your vet to complete the details on an “Issuing of the Passport” page including their contact details when they authenticate treatments and vaccinations for your pet.

New rule: Pets must be at least 12 weeks old before being vaccinated against rabies for travel purposes.

New requirement: All member states in the EU to carry out checks on their borders (the UK already checks all pets coming into the country through approved routes).

New rule: Tighter definition of non-commercial movement which will mean owners who cannot travel with a pet when they enter the EU, must do so within 5 days; owners can still authorise another person to travel with their pet, but the pet and authorised person must travel within 5 days of each other.

The EU pet travel scheme limits owners to travel with five pets within the EU and/or return to the UK, unless you are going to a show or competition in which case you will need to comply with additional rules.

Pets entering Britain on approved routes will continue to be checked by the carriers prior to boarding, (sea, rail, air).

The main requirements of the scheme remain the same.

If you are entering the UK from France the rules are:

Pet must be identified with a microchip

Pet must have received a rabies vaccination followed by a 21 day wait

Pet must be accompanied by the relevant documentation

Dogs must be treated against tapeworm

Enter with an approved transport company on an authorised route

More details from:

https://www.gov.uk/pet-travel-information-for-pet-owners

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