Health certificate for animals; application

Live animals and products from them that are to be brought into the EU within the EU or from a third country must meet specific animal health requirements. This prevents the introduction of animal diseases into the EU or the spread of animal diseases from one EU country to another.

Enterprise operators must ensure that animals to be moved to another member state are accompanied by a health certificate (also called a veterinary certificate or TRACES certificate)

The animal health certificate will

• for the entry of breeding and production animals from a third country to Germany (import) as well as
• for the exit of breeding and production animals from Germany to third countries (countries outside the European Union) (export)

needed.

It provides information about the general health status of a breeding or production animal.

The requirements for issuing an animal health certificate vary widely. Therefore, contact the competent authority as early as possible. Only if all the requirements are met can it issue a health certificate.

The veterinary certificate must be examined, sealed and signed by an official veterinarian. Before signing, the official veterinarian must verify, through document checks, identity checks and physical checks, that the terrestrial animals kept covered by the certificate meet the required animal health requirements. If the relevant requirements are met, the health certificate can be issued in TRACES NT and delivered to the operator.

The requirements for issuing an animal health certificate vary widely. Therefore, contact the competent body as early as possible. Only if all the requirements are met, it can issue a health certificate.

For most certificates, the presentation of the animal is necessary.

You must notify the competent authority of the arrival of a shipment of animals well in advance of arrival.

For import:

• The application for the issuance of a health certificate is made electronically in the database system "TRACES NT".
• To access TRACES-NT, an "EU login" is required. For this, the importer must register once and is activated by the competent authority.
• The animals are imported into Germany via a border control approved for the import of animals.
• All required veterinary examination and treatment certificates must be presented.

For export:

• The exporter is required to comply with the laws, regulations, standards and procedural and import requirements in force in the importing country.
• This results in the obligation of the entrepreneur to obtain the corresponding current requirements of the third country if necessary and submit to the certifying officer for examination.
• When exporting animals, the examination of the animals in the authority or on site by an official veterinarian is required. Here, compliance with the respective requirements necessary for the third country is to be certified.
• Certain third countries allow exports to their territory only from establishments that are already known through prior registration or approval there and have been included in appropriate lists of registered or approved establishments.
• Official listing procedures are subject to establishments that must register with the authorities of the third country and / or be officially listed. This usually requires officially confirmed export applications, which in many cases must also certify compliance with the requirements specified by the third country.
• After successful examination of the applications by the authorities of the third country and, if necessary, successfully taken place on-site inspection, the companies are approved and listed by the respective third country for export and can then export.

The timeframes in which certain checks must be carried out by official veterinarians prior to the planned movement again differ depending on the animal species.

There may be very different deadlines and quarantine conditions for compliance with the health requirements to be certified in Germany or the country of origin, depending on the species and country of origin. Contact the responsible veterinary office as early as possible.

within 48 hours

• If applicable, current veterinary examination and treatment certificates

The fees depend, among other things, on the type of animal and the number of animals. If necessary, inquire at the competent authority.