Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Belgium → Mexico
What the official rules ask for on this route, for a family pet travelling with its owner. Enter your travel date and your pet’s details to turn it into a dated checklist.
Limited official guidance. The authority for leaving Belgium publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. AFSCA's page gives no deadline, fee or booking route for the certificate. Ask your local control unit (ULC) early.
How early to start
No fixed wait
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
No fixed wait
if it is already microchipped and vaccinated
Counted only from the officially fixed waiting periods. Vet, lab and paperwork appointment times are on top, so start earlier.
Which rules apply to you
Belgium is in the group “Any other country — Certificate of Good Health (15 days)” in Mexico’s published list.See every group
Headlines for Mexico
- Import permit needed
What your dog or cat needs
Permit
Zoosanitary Import Certificate (CZI) on arrival
On arrival, ask SENASICA staff at the airport, port or border for the CZI application form for your dog or cat (you can also download it beforehand).
Details and the official words
“you must request the Zoosanitary Import Certificate (CZI) at our offices located at all points of entry into the country (ports, airports, and borders).”
On arrival
Physical inspection on arrival
SENASICA inspects your pet on arrival to check its health. Pets with recent wounds or parasites need treatment first.
Details and the official words
“a physical inspection of your animal will be carried out to verify its health status”
Paperwork
Certificate of Good Health (issued within 15 days)
Bring the original and a copy of a Certificate of Good Health issued no more than 15 days before you arrive, by an official vet or a private vet on letterhead with their licence number. It must show your pet's rabies vaccination (date and validity), that it was healthy at the pre-travel exam, and that it was dewormed inside and out in the last 6 months and is free of external parasites.
Details and the official words
Health certificate checked and certified by AFSCA (local control unit): In most cases the destination requires a health certificate for your pet. AFSCA's website lists the procedure and the types of certificate. Your local control unit (ULC) has to be able to check that the certification is possible.
AFSCA's page gives no deadline for how recent the certificate must be: the destination's rules decide.
If this is missed: You must use a private vet in Mexico to treat your pet and issue the certificate, at your cost.
“you must present a Certificate of Good Health with a maximum validity of 15 days from its date of issuance”
“Dans la majorité des cas, un certificat sanitaire est exigé par le pays de destination pour que votre animal puisse vous accompagner dans ce pays.”
“L’Unité locale de Contrôle (ULC) doit pouvoir contrôler que la certification sera possible.”
Vaccination
Rabies vaccination (recorded on the certificate)
Your pet's rabies vaccination date and its validity must be on the Certificate of Good Health. Pets under 3 months old are exempt.
Details and the official words
“Date of administration of the rabies vaccine and its period of validity (animals under 3 months of age are exempt).”
Treatment
Internal and external deworming
Your pet must be dewormed internally and externally within the 6 months before travel and be free of external parasites — this goes on the Certificate of Good Health.
Details and the official words
“That the animal(s) have been dewormed internally and externally within the six months prior to travel and are free of ectoparasites.”
Paperwork
Bring proof of the destination's conditions to your local control unit
If the destination has its own conditions, or conditions AFSCA hasn't published, bring official proof that the destination's authority asked for them (with a sworn translation if needed) to your local AFSCA control unit (ULC) beforehand, not on the day of certification, so it can check that certification will be possible. Start preparing early.
Details and the official words
“vous devez présenter une preuve officielle attestant que ces conditions ont bien été exigées par l’autorité du pays de destination”
“Les conditions imposées par le pays de destination doivent être présentées au préalable”
Good to know
- Mexico removes and destroys crate bedding, diapers, newspaper, sawdust, rags, toys and treats made with ruminant ingredients. Travel with a clean crate — it will be sprayed on arrival. Collar and leash are fine.
- If parasites such as ticks are found at the inspection, you must pay a vet in Mexico to treat your pet before it's released.
- To travel outside the EU, the destination country's conditions apply. For some countries AFSCA publishes them; for others you must ask the embassy or the regional export-promotion organisations. It is your responsibility that the destination accepts your pet.
- AFSCA recommends a European passport, a microchip and a valid rabies vaccination. For a limited number of countries the rabies vaccination is not required, but AFSCA still advises it because it is needed to come back to the EU. Many non-EU countries count a vaccine as valid for one year, so check its date before you leave.
- Even after a short stay in a non-EU country, your pet has to meet the rules for entering Belgium from outside the EU when it comes back. Where a blood test is needed, the conditions are relaxed if you do it before you leave.
- Planning to bring your pet back to the EU? After a short stay in a non-EU country you can skip the 3-month wait after the rabies blood test, but only if, before you leave the EU, your pet was vaccinated against rabies, passed a successful titer test, and your vet recorded both in its EU pet passport. So do the blood test before you go.
Common questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from Belgium to Mexico?
No. The official rules we have verified for this route don't ask for a rabies blood test.
Do I need an import permit to bring my dog or cat into Mexico?
Yes: On arrival, ask SENASICA staff at the airport, port or border for the CZI application form for your dog or cat (you can also download it beforehand).
Will my dog or cat be quarantined in Mexico?
Not on the routes we have verified: the official rules list no quarantine for a pet that meets the requirements.
Does my dog or cat need a microchip?
The official rules we have verified for this route don't list a microchip requirement.