At our latest Focus on Mexico learning seminar, we were fortunate to have a presentation by a FOCUS alumni who is an accredited veterinarian and moved to Mexico with his pets. He was kind enough to allow us to share this information with you.
What are the requirements to bring my pet to Mexico?
The U.S. and Mexico have agreements on the movement of many things across the border including pets. Basic requirements that are continually updated can be found at the USDA website.
What is an Accredited Veterinarian?
An accredited veterinarian is one that has completed training through the USDA National Veterinary Accreditation Program. It is state based and allows these veterinarians to complete, sign, and date health certificates for international travel. Depending on the location of travel these health certificates are then countersigned and embossed/ stamped by the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
In the case of travel with dogs or cats to Mexico you will typically need an Accredited Veterinarian to fill out the Health Certificate, but won’t necessarily need the countersigning and embossing by APHIS (see below for more detail).
The following is an overview from the USDA website.
The Health Certificate must…
- Be type written, or completed using a word processor or computer.
- Documents with handwritten information will be rejected.
- Not contain abbreviations. Example:
- Dates: “January” is accepted while “Jan” is not.
- States: Must be the entire word and not the two-letter abbreviation.
- Ages: “Months” or “Years” is accepted while “mos” or “yrs” is not.
- Mexico will reject VS Form 7001 health certificates if they are not signed and sealed by a Veterinary Services veterinarian.
Documentation Choices
You have some choice when it comes to the appropriate documentation to supply for bringing your dogs or cats into Mexico:
- Option A: The APHIS form 7001 health certificate (HC) or
- Option B: A health certificate (HC) issued and signed by an accredited veterinarian on their letterhead certificate that includes the accreditation number of the signing veterinarian.
Form 7001: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/downloads/mx_aphis_7001.pdf
Health Certificate Template for use by an Accredited Veterinarian. Attached to the end of this document.
**Don’t forget that this needs to go on their letterhead**
Which one to use?
So here I will interject a bit of my own opinion
Q: Which form to use?
A: I would lean towards Option B: A health certificate issued and signed by an accredited veterinarian.
Q: Why?
A: With the short turnaround time of 10 days prior to export with Option A you would need to:
1) Have an accredited veterinarian fill out the form
2) Have the form sent to the closest Veterinary Services Endorsement Office
3) The Veterinary Services Endorsement Office needs to sign and endorse
4) The form is mailed back to you in a pre-addressed and stamped envelope that you send with the form
5) You have to pay for all the shipping and with only 10 days you will probably have to overnight the form to and from to get it back is a reasonable time
6) You have to pay for the endorsement
Below are some of the other requirements listed on the USDA website:
Other Requirements
Personnel from the Office of Animal Health, Aquaculture, and Fishery will inspect the animals and documents. Pets with external parasites will be treated by a private veterinarian chosen by the pet owner who will pay for the cost of the treatment. At inspection, animal cages must be clean. After inspection, the attending official will disinfect animal cages without cost.
To comply with dispositions established in Article 24, 32 and 89 of the Federal Law of Animal Health, the importer must present the health certificate at the port of entry. The health certificate must meet the requirements of this Zoosanitary Requirement Sheet (HRZ) and must contain the identification of the pets and destination of the shipment.
Mexico Information on Pet Importation
The following information is provided by (SENASICA) (Mexico National Service of Health, Safety and Agrifood Quality): Note that only dogs and cats are considered pets.
The astute reader will notice that the US site states that the HC must be filled out in 10 days and the Mexican site states that it is 15 days. In my professional opinion I would err on the side of caution and go with the 10 day limit.
What about Proof of Parasite Treatment?
While I can’t find any specific requirement detailing this on either site there are several anecdotal reports of this being required especially if you fly in with your dog(s) cats(s). While the USDA states that the template (that I’ve copied below) should not be changed I would recommend that you have the veterinarian supply an additional statement on a separate sheet eof letterhead reasserting:
The animals were treated against ectoparasite and endoparasite in a period not longer than 6 months. / Los animales fueron tratados contra ectoparásitos y endoparásitos en un periodo que no exceda seis meses de haberse aplicado. Then listing the medication brand, product name, batch number and date administered. (I’ve created a template below for this purpose, just note that this is not an official document of any government etc. so use at your own risk).
If you decide to go the Option A route, on the form is a section called “OTHER VACCINATIONS, TREATMENT, AND/OR TESTS AND RESULTS” I have spoken with the Veterinary Services Endorsement Office in Texas and they recommended placing the parasite treatment information in this section.
Flying vs. Driving
If you plan to fly in with your pets I would strongly recommend that you contact your individual airline to find out what their paperwork requirements are, they could be different from what I have listed here. Also to the best of my knowledge when you fly and reach Mexico your pets will be inspected by someone from the Oficinas de Inspección de Sanidad Agropecuarias (OISA). You will need to supply them with the correct paperwork to receive your import certificate.
If you drive in it is your responsibility to stop at the nearest OISA office location to have your pets inspected and receive your import certificate. I know a lot of people don’t complete this step when driving in, I just wanted to be clear that as far as I know you are supposed to do this.
See this informative post by NOMAD-ISH with information on the new frequent pet traveller program if you are someone who plans to travel in and out frequently with your pets.
If you are new to travelling with pets, also check out this excellent article on the topic that covers many other bases of pet travel; https://www.bookmundi.com/t/tips-for-traveling-with-pets
I hope this helps and removes some of the worry about bringing your dogs and cats from the US to Mexico.
Safe Travels
Dr. Calvin Patten Jr.
HEALTH CERTIFICATE TO EXPORT DOGS AND CATS FROM THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO MEXICO
Name and Address of Consignor/Nombre y Dirección de Consignador:
Name and Address of Consignee/Nombre y Dirección del Destinatario:
Identification of the animals to be exported / Identificación de los animales a ser exportados.
Animal/s has been vaccinated against rabies. Indicate the vaccination and expiration dates of the rabies vaccine. Animals younger than three months are exempted from this
requirement. / Que el o los animales han sido inmunizados contra la rabia, indicando la fecha de aplicación de la vacuna y la vigencia de la misma; quedan exentos de este requisito los animales menores de tres meses de edad.
Animals were inspected and found clinically healthy prior to export / Que en la inspección previa a la exportación, los animales se encontraron clínicamente sanos.
The animals were treated against ectoparasite and endoparasite in a period not longer than 6 months. / Los animales fueron tratados contra ectoparásitos y endoparásitos en un periodo que no exceda seis meses de haberse aplicado.
Veterinarian Signature/ Date/Fecha Veterinario Firma
Accreditation number/Número de Acreditación
The animals were treated against ectoparasite and endoparasite in a period not longer than 6 months.
Los animales fueron tratados contra ectoparásitos y endoparásitos en un periodo que no exceda seis meses de haberse aplicado.
Veterinarian Signature/ Date/Fecha Veterinario Firma
Accreditation number/Número de Acreditación
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Gee, some of us aren’t from the USA. I’m a Canadian returning after an extended stay in Vietnam.
I take your point Peter. We’ll need to do another post for Canadians. The expert who contributed much of the content of this post was a US vet so that is why it is US centric.
Cheers,
Michael
So, if I drive over the border, do I have to have a crate for my dog or is that just for flying?
No need to crate your dog for driving over the border.
I’m planning to taking my dog to Rosarito for the holidays. I spoke to USDA and they said option B for Health Certificate since I’m driving. But is there anything else I have to do before I return to the USA?
As far as we know, the only requirement for bringing your dog back into the U.S. is a valid rabies vaccination and your Health Certificate should take care of that requirement.
Appreciate all this information even though we are in the On-line Pilot Program (highly recommend it) & will be enrolling in Focus session in MX in Nov.
Our 4 legged family members run the family, so we can never get too much info on taking them to MX with us.
Thanks again Michael.