The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine is working on measures that include allowing pet cat or dog importers to conditionally waive the mandated quarantine period.
The measures are in response to the increasing demand for imported pets and requests for a more flexible quarantine policy while minimizing risks of importing rabies, bureau Deputy Director-General Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said yesterday, adding that they could be implemented in the latter half of this month.
The nation in 2021 had 87,810 registered house cats and 1.23 million house dogs, Hsu said, citing the bureau’s statistics.
Photo: CNA
The bureau has proposed amendments to Addendum 6, Article 8 of the Regulations for the Importation of Objects Subject to Animal Quarantine (輸入應施檢疫物檢疫準則), with the bureau designating three types of risk management measures and pet importers being allowed to apply for a quarantine waiver if they meet one of the requirements.
One, importers must apply for a quarantine waiver 120 days before the pet’s arrival. The other two applies to people applying for an import permit 20 days before the animal’s arrival: importers must present quarantine examination reports from the country of origin; or, testing facilities from the country of origin can send quarantine exam results directly to the target destination.
However, the prerequisite for these three measures is a blood test showing that the cat or dog had received a rabies shot 180 days before an application for waiver is filed, Hsu said.
Rabies has an incubation period of 180 days.
Current regulations stipulate that to import canines and felines from regions with known rabies infections, importers must present documentation that the animals had been vaccinated 90 days before their scheduled date of arrival, Hsu said.
Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Estonia, the UK, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, the Svalbard Islands, Hawai and Guam are the only countries or areas without known cases of rabies infections.
Importers must also apply for an import permit 20 days before the animal’s arrival, Hsu said, adding that the animal must be quarantined for seven days after arrival.
Cats and dogs imported from Japan would only need to present official documents prior to their arrival in Taiwan, he said.
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