Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Sweden → the Philippines
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 Sweden publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. Jordbruksverket says it usually does not know other countries' requirements and gives no fixed deadline or fee for the certificate: the destination's own rules decide, and an official vet in your area issues the certificate.
Limited official guidance. The authority for entering the Philippines publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. This follows the Bureau of Animal Industry's pet page as rewritten in October 2026 (13 questions and answers) and its Citizen's Charter. The page no longer says which veterinary certificate must travel with your pet, what you show and pay on arrival, or what the antibody titer test required from 1 January 2027 involves, and the circular behind the rules (BAI Memorandum Circular 43 of 2020) is on a site that returns an error. Ask BAI (nvqsd@bai.gov.ph) before you travel.
How early to start
4 weeks
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
2 weeks
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.
Headlines for the Philippines
- Import permit needed
- Some origins not allowed
What your dog or cat needs
Bringing a dog or cat into the Philippines: we summarised this from a short or older official page and it is still under review, so it may be incomplete.
Identification
Microchip (the number is part of the SPSIC application)
Your pet's microchip number is part of the import clearance (SPSIC) application.
Details and the official words
“Information of the dog/cat such as vaccination and antiparasitic records, microchip number, actual photo of the dog/cat, and pet passport if applicable.”
“Proof of Microchip Numbers”
Vaccination
Rabies vaccination by a licensed vet, at 12 weeks or older
A licensed vet in your pet's country vaccinates it against rabies when it is at least 12 weeks old (a pet vaccinated younger needs a booster before you apply for the SPSIC). Rabies is the only vaccination the Philippines requires. After a first vaccination you wait 14 days before applying for the SPSIC; BAI accepts a vaccine with 3-year validity.
Details and the official words
“The rabies vaccination should be administered by a licensed veterinarian of the source country.”
“The dog or cat should be at least 12 weeks of age at the time of rabies vaccination; or the dog or cat vaccinated against rabies earlier than 12 weeks of age shall be given a booster shot with owner’s consent before applying for SPSIC.”
“No, the Philippines only requires the dog or cat to be vaccinated against Rabies.”
Treatment
Internal and external parasite treatment still valid on arrival
Your pet's internal and external parasite treatment must still be valid when it arrives in the Philippines. BAI says no 'updated' treatment is needed and there's no wait before applying for the SPSIC; how long a treatment stays valid depends on the product, so ask your vet.
The official wording is ambiguous. Confirm this point with the authority.
Details and the official words
BAI's answer starts 'No, your dog/cat does not need an updated parasite treatment' and then says the treatment 'should be valid until the arrival'. We show the treatment so that it is valid on arrival; ask BAI if you're unsure what that means for your pet.
“No, your dog/cat does not need an updated parasite treatment and you do not need to wait to apply for SPSIC.”
“However, the internal and external parasite treatment should be valid until the arrival in the Philippines.”
Permit
SPS Import Clearance (SPSIC) from BAI, applied for online
Every dog and cat needs an approved SPSIC from BAI before it enters the Philippines. Apply online through the DA Trade System (intercommerce.com.ph) once your pet is at least 4 months old, and at least 14 days after a first rabies vaccination. You give the vaccination and parasite-treatment records, the microchip number, a photo of the pet and the pet passport if it has one; the Citizen's Charter also lists a BIR-issued ID with a tax number and a notarized affidavit of undertaking (Annex A for Filipinos, Annex C for foreigners). BAI processes it in 11 working days.
Details and the official words
BAI's page doesn't say how long an approved SPSIC stays valid: check the dates on yours.
“Yes, all dogs and cats need an approved and valid SPSIC issued by BAI before entering the Philippines.”
“The SPSIC can be secured online through DA Trade System”
“The application takes 11 working days to be processed from the date of submission, evaluation, endorsement, and approval.”
“The dog or cat should be at least 4 months of age at the time of the SPSIC application.”
“If the dog or cat will receive its first or initial Rabies vaccination, the importer should wait 14 days after the date of initial vaccination before they can apply for SPS Import clearance to ensure that the dog or cat did not have any adverse reaction from the vaccine.”
“Acquiring SPS Import Permit is a requirement before any dog or cat can enter into the Philippines.”
Official stamp
Health certificate from an official vet in your area
Most often your dog or cat needs both a passport and at least one type of animal health certificate issued by an official vet. Once you know which certificates you need, contact an official vet near you to help you meet the conditions and have the certificates issued.
Details and the official words
Jordbruksverket's page gives no deadline for how recent the certificate must be: the destination's own requirements decide.
“Oftast behöver hunden både pass och minst en typ av djurhälsointyg som utfärdas av en officiell veterinär.”
“Oftast behöver katten både pass och minst en typ av djurhälsointyg som utfärdas av en officiell veterinär.”
“När du har tagit reda på vilka intyg som du behöver ska du kontakta en officiell veterinär i ditt närområde för att få hjälp med att uppfylla villkoren och få intygen utfärdade.”
Good to know
- An importer may bring at most 3 animals a year, or the same 3 animals (identified by their microchip numbers) more than once a year.
- From 1 January 2027 every SPSIC application must meet antibody titer (rabies blood test) requirements. BAI hasn't published what they are (laboratory, minimum result, waiting time). If you will apply on or after 1 January 2027, ask BAI now: blood tests can take weeks or months to plan.
- BAI's rewritten pet page no longer says which veterinary certificate must travel with your pet, or what you show and pay on arrival. Until 12 October 2026 it asked for the original export permit / international veterinary health certificate (EP/IVHC) from the exporting country's veterinary authority, shown with printed copies of the approved SPSIC to the BAI quarantine officer at the airport, and listed the fees. Ask BAI (nvqsd@bai.gov.ph) and your own country's export authority what is needed now.
- A dog or cat that is pregnant when you apply for the SPSIC is not allowed, and one that has given birth must have done so at least 12 weeks before travel.
- After an annual booster BAI applies no waiting period if the booster was given 'within 7 days of the validity of the vaccine'; otherwise the 14-day wait applies. The wording is unclear (before or after the old vaccination expired?), so if your pet's booster wasn't on time, ask BAI.
- BAI may waive the rabies vaccination for pets from countries with an official self-declaration of freedom from rabies, or where rabies has never been reported, in their official report to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). We don't hold that list, so the plan always shows the vaccination: ask BAI if this applies to your pet's country.
- BAI accepts a rabies vaccine with 3-year validity from the pet's home country. Once the pet has spent a total of 1 year in the Philippines it needs a booster from a licensed vet there, then the local annual (12-month) vaccination for as long as it stays.
- When your dog or cat travels to a country outside the EU, the rules of that country apply and they differ from country to country. It is your responsibility to find out what applies, to use the right certificate and to make sure the pet meets the rules. Contact the destination's veterinary authority or its embassy in Sweden in good time.
- If your pet travels with wrong or incomplete documents, the authorities of the destination decide what happens: it can be refused entry and sent back, put in quarantine at your cost, or in the worst case put down.
- Contact the destination's veterinary authority, ask for the requirements in writing, and ask whether it accepts Jordbruksverket's health certificate for dogs and cats. Ask about special certificates, sampling, deworming or other treatments (for example Norway requires deworming against the fox tapeworm). Use the right terms: the rules can differ for a holiday trip with the owner and a trip to change owner by sale, adoption or rehoming.
- Make sure your pet meets the rules for coming back to Sweden before you go. If a rabies antibody test is needed to return and its result is not in the passport before the trip, a dog may have to wait up to 4 months before it can come home.
- 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 Sweden to the Philippines?
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.
Do I need an import permit to bring my dog or cat into the Philippines?
Yes: Every dog and cat needs an approved SPSIC from BAI before it enters the Philippines.
Will my dog or cat be quarantined in the Philippines?
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's microchip number is part of the import clearance (SPSIC) application.