Bringing a dog or cat to Ecuador: official requirements

Entering Ecuador

What your pet needs

In the order you do them. Rules marked “Applies when” are only for some pets, origins or routes.

1. Get ready

   Weeks or months ahead: the steps with waiting periods, so start here.

   1. Age rule

      Older than 4 months, identified by name, tattoo or microchip

      Your dog or cat must be older than 4 months when it enters Ecuador and be identified by its name, a tattoo or a microchip.

      Details and the official words

      “Los animales de compañía convencionales deberán tener una edad mayor a 4 meses y estar identificados mediante nombre, tatuaje o un microchip.”

   2. Vaccination

      Rabies vaccination valid on arrival (a first vaccination at least 14 days before)

      Your pet's rabies vaccination must be valid when it arrives in Ecuador. If it is your pet's first rabies vaccination, at least 14 days must have passed since it was given.

      Details and the official words

      “Las siguientes vacunas tienen que encontrarse vigentes al arribo de los animales al país bajo las siguientes consideraciones:”

      “Rabia. - Únicamente para esta enfermedad, en caso de ser la primera vacunación del animal para su ingreso al país, al menos deberá haber pasado catorce (14) días desde el día de la aplicación de la vacuna.”

   3. VaccinationDogs only

      Dogs: distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and parvovirus vaccinations valid on arrival

      Your dog's vaccinations against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and parvovirus must be valid when it arrives in Ecuador.

      Details and the official words

      “Las siguientes vacunas tienen que encontrarse vigentes al arribo de los animales al país bajo las siguientes consideraciones:”

      “Enfermedad de carré (Distemper)”

      “Parvovirosis”

   4. VaccinationCats only

      Cats: panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis and calicivirus vaccinations valid on arrival

      Your cat's vaccinations against feline panleukopenia, feline viral rhinotracheitis and feline calicivirus must be valid when it arrives in Ecuador.

      Details and the official words

      “Las siguientes vacunas tienen que encontrarse vigentes al arribo de los animales al país bajo las siguientes consideraciones:”

      “Panleucopenia felina”

      “Rinotraqueitis viral felina”

      “Calicivirus felino”

   5. Permit

      Pet in the cargo hold: import permit, documents emailed 72 hours before arrival

      Applies when: someone else brings the pet (you are not travelling with it)

      A pet arriving in the cargo hold needs Agrocalidad's import permit before customs (SENAE) clears it. 72 hours before arrival, email the arrival airport (aeropuerto.quito@agrocalidad.gob.ec for Quito, aeropuerto.guayaquil@agrocalidad.gob.ec for Guayaquil) the air waybill, the owner's passport, phone number and email, the export health certificate, the vaccination card and the customs agent's name if you use one. Agrocalidad then issues a payment order at the current tariff, payable through Banco Guayaquil, Banco Pichincha or Banco Bolivariano (no cash).

      The official wording is ambiguous. Confirm this point with the authority.

      Details and the official words

      The rule depends on how your pet flies (cargo hold or not), which we can't ask yet: we show it when your pet travels without you, as it then usually flies as cargo. A pet travelling with you but in the cargo hold needs it too.

      “Si el animal de compañía llega en bodegas de carga, requiere un Permiso Zoosanitario de Importación para la posterior nacionalización por parte de SENAE, por lo tanto, el propietario enviará al correo electrónico del aeropuerto de llegada con 72 horas antes del arribo al país los siguientes documentos:”

      “Con estos requisitos, un técnico de la Agencia generará la orden de pago en el Sistema GUIA válido para la emisión del Permiso Zoosanitario de Importación, el costo del trámite será acorde al tarifario vigente”

      “No se recibirán pagos en efectivo por la emisión del Permiso Zoosanitario de Importación.”

      “aeropuerto.quito@agrocalidad.gob.ec”

2. In the days before you travel

   Paperwork, treatments and stamps that must be recent when your pet travels.

   1. Vet exam

      Vet examination within 10 days before the trip

      A vet recognised by your country's official veterinary service examines your pet within the 10 days before the trip and finds it free of signs of infectious or parasitic disease and of healing wounds. The certificate gives the species, age, breed, sex and coat colour.

      Details and the official words

      “El animal fue sometido a un examen clínico por parte de un médico veterinario reconocido por el Servicio veterinario oficial del país de origen dentro de los 10 días previos al viaje y que al momento de realizar el mismo, éste se encontró libre de signos clínicos de enfermedades infectocontagiosas, parasitarias, así como, de la presencia de heridas en procesos de cicatrización”

   2. Treatment

      Internal and external parasite treatment within 21 days before boarding

      Your pet is treated against internal and external parasites within the 21 days before boarding, with products authorised in your country. The certificate gives the product name, active ingredient and date.

      Details and the official words

      “El animal recibió un tratamiento antiparasitario interno y externo dentro de los veintiún (21) días previos al embarque con productos autorizados para su uso en el país de origen, detallando nombre del producto, principio activo, y la fecha de aplicación.”

   3. Paperwork

      Official export health certificate, issued at most 10 days before arrival

      The official veterinary service of your pet's country issues (or endorses) an export health certificate, in Spanish or English, stating that your pet meets Ecuador's requirements. It must be issued no more than 10 calendar days before your pet enters Ecuador. Show it on arrival: for a pet in the cabin, with your checked luggage or crossing a land border, it is the only document needed.

      Details and the official words

      “El animal estará amparado por un Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación expedido o avalado por el Servicio Veterinario Oficial del país de origen con fecha de emisión no mayor a diez (10) días calendario previos al ingreso de los animales al Ecuador, mismo que deberá presentarse en idioma español o inglés.”

      “Para ingresar a Ecuador debe presentar el Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación de su perro y/o gato otorgado por el Servicio Veterinario Oficial del país de origen, el mismo deberá presentarse en idioma español o inglés, detallando el cumpliendo de los requisitos sanitarios exigidos por Ecuador.”

      “Cuando el perro o gato arribe al país en la cabina del avión junto al pasajero o por un paso fronterizo terrestre, no necesitará obtener el Permiso Zoosanitario de Importación, pero obligatoriamente deberá presentar el Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación emitido en el país de origen.”

Worked out from the rules

How long it takes from each country

For a pet coming from each country: the group Ecuador’s rules put it in, and the least time the official waiting periods allow. Tap a country for the full route.

Money

What it costs to enter Ecuador

Ecuador’s government fees, exactly as the official pages state them, and what the rules make you pay for.

Notes

Good to know

• These are Agrocalidad's rules for entering mainland Ecuador. The Galápagos Islands have their own biosecurity agency (ABG), which controls what animals may be brought to the islands: ask ABG before planning to take a dog or cat there. We don't cover the Galápagos.
• A pet in the cabin, delivered with your checked luggage, or crossing a land border only needs the export health certificate. If your pet flies in the cargo hold, it also needs an import permit: see the permit step (email the arrival airport 72 hours before arrival).Applies when: you travel with your pet
• If one of the required vaccines isn't approved for use in your pet's country, the export certificate must say so and you must have your pet vaccinated during your stay in Ecuador.
• If your pet will go back to a country that asks for a rabies antibody blood test (at least 0.5 IU/ml, at a lab approved by that country) or a microchip, check this before you travel to Ecuador.
• A dog or cat that left Ecuador for a short trip can come back on the same Agrocalidad export certificate if no more than 30 calendar days have passed since it was issued. Otherwise it follows the normal entry rules below.Applies when: it is the trip back

Where this comes from

Official sources

Questions owners ask