1 
 Attachment 15-1: Quarantine Requirements for the Importation of Dog 
and Cat Food 
(Draft amendments)  
 
(In case of any discrepancy between the Chinese text and the English translation thereof, the Chinese 
text shall govern.) 
 
Promulgated on March 29, 2022 
Amended by Council of Agriculture on (to be confirmed) 
 
1. The quarantine requirements regulate the importation of dog and cat food indicating 
products containing ingredients derived from Artiodactyla animals or Aves animals 
and categorizing as the following goods of the Commodity Classification Code (CCC 
Code) of the Republic of China: 
(1) 2309.10.00.00-2 “Dog or cat food, for retail sale” 
(2) 4205.00.90.10-4 “Pet chews, manufactured by animal origin rawhide” 
Dog and cat food that comply with one of the following criteria shall be exempted: 
(1) Non-meat products; Products containing ingredients derived from animals other 
than Artiodactyla animals or Aves animals;  
(2) Products containing no ingredients derived from bovine and manufactured by a 
high-temperature sterilization canning procedure ; 
(3) Dry food manufactured by the high-temperature extrusion procedure and in the 
original manufacturer's packaging; 
(4) The forms of the products being capsule or tablet and in the original 
manufacturer's packaging. 
Meat products mentioned in the Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 2 refers to products 
manufactured from the raw materials derived from the carcasses and viscera of 
Artiodactyla animals or Aves animals. 
The requirements do not apply to the exporting countries (zones) where there is a 
bilateral agreement between the exporting and importing countries. 
2. Terms used in the quarantine requirements are defined as follows: 
(1) The countries (zones) free and not free from designated infectious animal 
diseases and with reported case(s) of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE): 
The free countries (zones) refers to the ones that have been recognized by the 
central competent authority as being free from foot and mouth disease (FMD), 
contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), African swine fever (ASF), 
classical swine fever (CSF), peste des petits ruminants (PPR), highly pathogenic 
avian influenza (HPAI) and Newcastle disease (ND), or countries (zones) with 
reported case(s) of BSE recognized by the central competent authority pursuant 
to Paragraph 1, Article 33 of the “Statute for Prevention and Control of 2 
 Infectious Animal Disease”; except for above-mentioned countries (zones), 
other countries (zones) are deemed as not being free. 
(2) Ingredients of Artiodactyla animals: The raw materials of the dog and cat food 
are derived from cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, deer and other animals susceptible to 
infectious animal diseases listed in the Subparagraph 1 of Article 2 as specified 
by the central competent authority. 
(3) Ingredients of Aves animals: The raw materials of the dog and cat food are 
derived from chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and other animals as specified by 
the central competent authority. 
The animal ingredients mentioned in the Subparagraphs 2 and 3 of Article 2 exclude 
gelatin, by-products of gelatin, collagen, chondroitin, glucosamine, dicalcium 
phosphate, dairy products, animal grease, extracts, hydrolysates, concentrates, 
flavors, lecithin derived from poultry egg, and flavors derived from animals 
excluding bovine. 
3. The manufacturing plants of dog and cat food shall be approved by the competent 
authority of the exporting country as the plants that produce dog and cat food, and the 
dog and cat food shall be packed and shipped in clean and brand new containers. 
For the importation of dog and cat food that comply with one of the following 
conditions, the animal quarantine authority of the exporting country shall provide 
relevant information to the import/export animal quarantine authority for reviewing 
or assuring that official control systems and measures of supervision of the 
exporting country possess the required equivalency: 
(1) The dog and cat food containing ingredients of Artiodactyla animals and Aves 
animals are  imported from countries (zones) not recognized as being free from 
FMD, CBPP, ASF, CSF, PPR, HPAI or ND  without being manufactured by a 
high-temperature sterilization canning procedure .  
(2) The dog and cat food imported from countries (zones) with reported case(s) of 
BSE or BSE-risk status recognized by the World Organisation for Animal 
Health (WOAH)  as being controlled or undetermined based on the latest 
information of the WOAH website.  
The relevant information as specified in the Paragraph 2 of Article 3 includes the 
following contents: 
(1) The questionnaire shall be delivered by the animal quarantine authority of the 
exporting country filled out by the manufacturing plant(s) of dog and cat food; 
(2) The relevant information regarding dog and cat food hygiene management 
system, measures of supervision of the competent authority of the exporting 
country and application for system approval shall be provided. 
For the review of the Paragraph 2 of Article 3, the import/export animal quarantine 
authority may dispatch inspectors to conduct on-site inspection audits and regular 
on-site re-inspection. If the exporting country does not accept the inspection, or any 3 
 non-compliance with the quarantine requirements is found during the audit, the 
import/export animal quarantine authority may suspend importation of dog and cat 
food from the exporting country or from the designated establishments concerned. 
The expenses shall be shouldered by the exporting country, according to relevant 
regulations. For exporting country which has signed bilateral or multilateral 
agreement with the importing country, the expenses should be shouldered according 
to the agreement. 
4. Each consignment of the dog and cat food containing ingredients derived from cattle 
manufactured by a high-temperature sterilization canning procedure, or containing 
ingredients derived from Artiodactyla animals  imported from countries (zones) 
recognized as being free from FMD, CBPP, ASF, CSF,  or PPR, HPAI and ND ; or 
containing ingredients derived from Aves animals imported from countries (zones) 
recognized as being free from HPAI and ND  shall be accompanied by an original 
veterinary certificate issued by the animal quarantine authority of the exporting 
country. The certificate shall state the following information in English or Chinese: 
(1) Names and addresses of the importer and exporter; 
(2) Names and addresses of the manufacturing plants and statements noting that 
they comply with the Paragraph 1 of Article 3. 
(3) Names, amount of packages, weights and manufacturing dates of the dog and cat 
food; 
(4) Animal species for the raw materials of animal origin in  the dog and cat food.  
(5) Effective measures were taken to prevent the dog and cat food from being 
contaminated by pathogens of BSE and other infectious animal diseases in raw 
materials throughout the manufacturing and packing process. 
(6) Date, place, name and official stamp of the issuing authority, and printed name 
and signature of the issuing veterinary officer. 
5. The dog and cat food containing ingredients derived from Artiodactyla animals  
imported from countries (zones) not recognized as being free from FMD, CBPP, ASF, 
CSF, or PPR, HPAI or ND ; or containing ingredients derived from Aves animals 
imported from countries (zones) not recognized as being free from HPAI or ND  shall 
comply with the following processes:  
(1) The dog and cat food containing ingredients derived from Artiodactyla animals 
or Aves animals  shall be heat-treated to reach a core temperature of 70 ℃ for at 
least 30 minutes, 80 ℃ for at least 9 minutes or 100 ℃ for at least 1 minute 
during the processing procedures; 
(2) Other heat-treatments that achieve equivalent efficacy of inactivating viruses 
with treatments indicated in preceding Paragraph recognized by the 
import/export animal quarantine authority. 
Each consignment shall be accompanied by an original veterinary certificate issued 
by the animal quarantine authority of the exporting country. The certificate shall 4 
 state the following information in English or Chinese: 
(1) Names and addresses of the importer and exporter. 
(2) Names, addresses of the manufacturing plants and statements noting that they 
comply with the Paragraph 1 of Article 3. 
(3) Names, amount of packages, weights and manufacturing dates of the dog and cat 
food. 
(4) Animal species for the raw materials of animal origin in  the dog and cat food. 
(5) The process complying with preceding Paragraph. 
(6) Effective measures were taken to prevent the dog and cat food from being 
contaminated by pathogens of BSE and other infectious animal diseases in raw 
materials throughout the manufacturing and packing process 
(7) Date, place, name and official stamp of the issuing authority, and printed name 
and signature of the issuing veterinary officer. 
6. The dog and cat food produced by skin of Artiodactyla animals and Aves animals 
with the processes of depilation, destearination, drying and cleaning are made for 
chewing without blood clots and other ingredients of animal origins (hereinafter 
referred to as “pet chew”) are not applicable for Article 3, Article 4 and the Paragraph 
2 of Article 5: 
Each consignment shall be accompanied by an original veterinary certificate issued 
by the animal quarantine authority of the exporting country. The certificate shall 
state the following information in English or Chinese: 
(1) Names and addresses of the importer and exporter. 
(2) Names and addresses of the manufacturing plants. 
(3) Names, amount of packages, weights and manufacturing dates of the pet chews. 
(4) Statements attesting that the consignment fulfill the requirements mentioned in 
the Paragraph 1 of Article 6; meanwhile, the heat-treatments mentioned in the 
Paragraph 1 of Article 5 shall be stated when the exporting country are not 
recognized as being free from indicated animal diseases. 
(5) Effective measures were taken to prevent the pet chew from being contaminated 
by pathogens of BSE and other infectious animal diseases in raw materials 
throughout the manufacturing and packing process. 
(6) Date, place, name and official stamp of the issuing authority, and printed name 
and signature of the issuing veterinary officer. 
7. The consignment required to be transshipped through third countries (zones) shall 
comply with the “Regulations of Import Quarantine Operation for Animal Products 
Transported by Closed Container”.