Want to visit the Netherlands with your pet? When planning your trip, check the rules for bringing pets into the country. The rules differ depending on which animal you want to bring to the Netherlands and which country you are coming from. The following conditions apply to tourists who are travelling with a dog or cat.

If you are coming to the Netherlands from another member state of the European Union, your pet must:

• Be identified by a microchip (or tattoo if it was made before 07/03/2011) inserted before the rabies vaccination;

• Have a European pet passport certified by an authorized veterinarian of your country;

• Have a valid rabies vaccination as recorded on the pet passport by your veterinarian. Animals must be vaccinated at the age of 12 weeks and at least 21 days before departure to the Netherlands;

The above rules also apply to animals imported into the Netherlands from Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, and the Vatican City State.

If you are coming to the Netherlands from a third country, your pet must:

• Be identified by a microchip (or tattoo if it was made before 07/03/2011) inserted before the rabies vaccination;

• Have a valid rabies vaccination, which must be administered at least 21 days prior to departure to the Netherlands;

• Have a veterinary certificate filled out according to the sample (https://ivo.nvwa.nl/docs/digd012001j.pdf) by an official veterinarian of the country of export;

• You must also submit a declaration of the pet owner, which is filled out according to the following sample (https://ivo.nvwa.nl/docs/digd012001d.pdf);

• If you are coming from countries with a high risk of rabies infection, in addition to the above documents, you must provide the results of a rabies antibody titer test. The test must be taken in one of the laboratories approved by the European Commission (https://food.ec.europa.eu/animals/movement-pets/approved-rabies-serology-laboratories_en); the result must be at least 0.5 IU/ml. In this case, your pet may be allowed to enter the country within 3 months after taking the blood drawing.

A list of countries with a low risk of rabies infection can be found in the Regulation of the European Commission and Parliament No. 577/2013. These include countries such as Australia, Belarus, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Russia, Switzerland, the USA, etc.

These requirements apply for the non-commercial importation of pets. It is allowed to transport a pet on a separate flight, but the owner must make the same journey as the pet within 5 days. An owner or authorized person may carry a maximum of 5 animals. In case of violation of the established norms, the rules of commercial import will apply to animals.