Vets reminded on importance of export certification of dogs and cats to Australia 

Vets are being reminded to ensure that health certificate conditions have been met when certifying dogs and cats for export to Australia.

The Australian government has said there has been a number of failures recently regarding dogs and cats being certified in the UK.

Certification irregularities included: missing endorsement of lab reports, failure to administer correct parasiticide in the correct time frame and failure to provide all required lab reports and record vaccination details on the EHC.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency are warning that these import failures can lead to inconvenience and expense for travellers, potentially including the need for post-arrival quarantine and repeat testing.

Vets are reminded to scrutinise export documentation well in advance of the date of export. All notes for guidance must be read thoroughly and complied with in order for the animal to be appropriately prepared and certified for export to Australia. All required documentation must be included with the EHC and be endorsed by the vet, where necessary. 

Any pet export queries can be dealt with by the Centre for International Trade on 03000 200 301 or submitted via email to petexports.carlisle@apha.gsi.gov.uk.