Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Colombia → China
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 entering China publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. This is the customs announcement of 2019 plus Shanghai's English summary (2023). The announcement's attachments (the detailed quarantine requirements, the laboratories whose antibody test reports customs accepts and the ports with quarantine facilities) are on the customs site, which we cannot read, so deadlines for the vaccination and the blood test, and the official list of designated countries, are missing. Confirm with Chinese customs or your airline before you travel.
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
Colombia is in the group “Not designated: exempt from quarantine only with a valid chip and a rabies antibody test report from a laboratory accepted by customs” in China’s published list.See every group
Headlines for China
- Rabies blood test for some origins
What your dog or cat needs
Bringing a dog or cat into China: we summarised this from a short or older official page and it is still under review, so it may be incomplete.
Identification
Electronic microchip
Your pet must have an electronic microchip; a valid chip is needed for any exemption from quarantine.
Details and the official words
“宠物应当具有电子芯片。”
“（一）来自指定国家或者地区携带入境的宠物，具有有效电子芯片，经现场检疫合格的；”
Vaccination
Rabies vaccination certificate
You must give customs a rabies vaccination certificate issued by the official animal quarantine authority of the country or region you leave. The announcement gives no timing; its attachment may.
Details and the official words
“携带宠物入境的，携带人应当向海关提供输出国家或者地区官方动物检疫机构出具的有效检疫证书和狂犬病疫苗接种证书。”
Blood test
Rabies antibody test report (pets from non-designated countries)
A pet from a country that is not on China's designated list needs a rabies antibody test report from a laboratory customs accepts, with a titre above 0.5 IU/ml, to avoid 30 days' quarantine. The announcement gives no timing; its attachment may.
Details and the official words
“（二）来自非指定国家或者地区的宠物，具有有效电子芯片，提供采信实验室出具的狂犬病抗体检测报告（抗体滴度或免疫抗体量须在0.5IU/ml以上）并经现场检疫合格的；”
Vet exam
Official clinical inspection within 14 days before arrival
The official agency of the country or region you leave inspects your pet for rabies and other infectious or parasitic disease within 14 days before it arrives in China.
Details and the official words
“Pets must undergo an animal health clinical inspection conducted by the official agencies of the departing country or region within 14 days prior to their arrival in China.”
Paperwork
Quarantine certificate from the official animal quarantine authority
You must give customs a valid quarantine certificate issued by the official animal quarantine authority of the country or region you leave.
Details and the official words
Health certificate from a vet registered with ICA (within 5 days of departure): A vet registered with ICA examines your pet and issues its health certificate, dated no more than 5 calendar days before you leave Colombia. It describes the pet, confirms the clinical exam (no signs of contagious or parasitic disease, no recent wounds), records the internal and external parasite treatment given as the destination requires (product, batch, active ingredient, date) and comes with the current vaccination certificate (original and copy) following the destination's vaccination plan.
“携带宠物入境的，携带人应当向海关提供输出国家或者地区官方动物检疫机构出具的有效检疫证书和狂犬病疫苗接种证书。”
“con fecha de expedición no mayor a cinco (5) días calendario previos a la salida del país”
“Que a la mascota se le haya realizado un examen clínico y no haya presentado signos compatibles con enfermedades infectocontagiosas transmisibles o parasitarias, y no posea heridas recientes, suturas o lesiones en fase aguda.”
“Que la mascota recibió antes del viaje un tratamiento antiparasitario interno y externo, administrado de acuerdo con las exigencias del país de destino, con productos que estén debidamente autorizados en Colombia, indicando:”
Official stamp
ICA Sanitary Inspection Certificate (CIS) at the airport, port or border
Your vet files the CIS request in ICA's SISPAP system with your details, the pet's and the supporting documents (and the rabies antibody result where the destination asks for one). The request can be used within 5 calendar days of its creation. You receive the request number and a payment link by email (or pay by card at the ICA office), then take your pet and any other documents your destination asks for to the ICA office you chose at the airport, port or border, where ICA issues the CIS if the inspection is satisfactory.
Details and the official words
“La solicitud del certificado de inspección sanitaria – CIS y los documentos soporte tendrán vigencia para ser utilizados dentro de los cinco (5) días calendario a partir de su momento de creación”
“Si la inspección es satisfactoria, se emitirá el Certificado de Inspección Sanitaria (CIS).”
Good to know
- Only dogs and cats can be carried in, and only one pet per person per entry. Pets over the limit may be returned or destroyed.
- A pet that is not exempt (no chip, no accepted antibody test report when required, or signs of disease at the on-site check) is quarantined for 30 days at a site designated by customs, and must enter through a port with quarantine facilities.
- The list of designated countries, the laboratories whose antibody test reports customs accepts and the ports with quarantine facilities are whatever China's customs publishes; they may differ from what we show.
- Bring to the ICA office any document your destination asks for that wasn't uploaded with the request: for example the EU certificate annex, the 'Veterinary certificate to Great Britain', Brazil's international veterinary certificate, an entry authorisation (Japan, Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago) or the CDC permit when it applies.
- ICA only lets a pet leave if it meets the destination's requirements. It can issue the CIS without all of them only if you show an authorisation from the destination's authority that lets your pet in under those conditions.
- For a pregnant female the vet's certificate states roughly how far along she is and whether the journey is advisable.
Common questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from Colombia to China?
Yes: A pet from a country that is not on China's designated list needs a rabies antibody test report from a laboratory customs accepts, with a titre above 0.5 IU/ml, to avoid 30 days' quarantine.
Do I need an import permit to bring my dog or cat into China?
We couldn't find this in our summary of the rules, but that summary is short and still under review. Ask the official authority before you rely on it.
Will my dog or cat be quarantined in China?
We couldn't find this in our summary of the rules, but that summary is short and still under review. Ask the official authority before you rely on it.
Does my dog or cat need a microchip?
Yes: Your pet must have an electronic microchip; a valid chip is needed for any exemption from quarantine.