T +61 2 6272 3933  
F +61 2 6272 5161  18 Marcus Clarke Street  
Canberra City ACT 2601  GPO Box 858  
Canberra ACT 2601  agriculture .gov.au  
ABN 24 113 085 695 
 
 
BICON VETERINARY HEA LTH CERTIFICATION RE QUIREMENTS FOR FROZE N CANINE SEMEN  
These requirements cover the import of frozen canine semen from:  
 New Zealand  
 All other countries approved by the Australian Government  
 
An import permit will not be required if these requirements can be met in full.  
 
Full details , including veterinary health certification templates, are available through the through the 
Departmen t's Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON) at: 
https://bicon.agriculture.gov.au/biconweb4.0  
 
Import conditions  
General  
A veterinary health certificate must accompany each consignment; a sep arate veterinary certificate 
must be prepared for each donor. The veterinary health certificate must:  
 be written in English, and a language understood by the Official Government Veterinarian of 
the country of export; and  
 name the country of export (country  of residence of all donors); and  
 name the certifying Ministry / Department; and  
 meet all requirements as outlined by  the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources .  
 
An Official Government Veterinarian must complete and sign the veterinary health certificate.  
 
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources  will accept copies of documents whe re each 
page bears the original signature, date and stamp of the Official G overnment Veterinarian.]  
 
Any corrections made to the Veterinary Health Certificate must be struck through, remain legible and 
be signed and stamped by the Official Government Veterinarian ( Note : Correction fluid must not be 
used).  
 
New Zealand  
The veteri nary certificate must be completed for each donor animal and include the following 
information:  
 Breed  
 Microchip number  
 Date/s of semen collection  
 Number of straws/cryovials  in this consignment  
 Straw/cryovial identification  
 
The veterinary certificate must include the following statements:  
 
1. I am satisfied by veterinary or council registration records and due enquiry that, at the time 
of collection, the donor animal(s) were resident in New Zealand and not under quarantine 
restriction.  
 2 2. I certify that New Zeal and is free from rabies.  
 
3. Canine brucellosis (Brucella  canis), leptospirosis ( Leptospira  canicola ) and indigenous cases 
of, and established populations of competent vectors for, leishmaniasis ( Leishmania 
infantum ) have not been confirmed in New Zealand during the 12 months prior to the date 
of semen collection.  
 
4. The donor dog must have been continuously resident in New Zealand since birth or since it 
was imported from Australia. If the dog has not lived all of its life in New Zealand or has not 
resided only in New Zealand since import from Australia, the following  evidence of testing 
must be presented to the MPI approved veterinarian:  
 
a. negative test (an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) or an enzyme linked 
immunosorbent assay (ELISA)) result for Leishmania infantum  on a blood sample 
collected between 30 and  45 days following the last collection of semen in the export 
consignment.  
 
5. A NZMPI Approved Veterinarian examined the donor animal on the day of semen collection 
and found him to be healthy and free from venereal disease.  
 
6. An Approved Veterinarian collec ted, or supervised the collection of, the semen from this 
donor.  
 
7. The semen must be processed in either straw or pellet* form and be packaged and 
identifiable by clearly legible markings, as follows:  
a. Microchip number of the donor animal (from 1 August 2016 ); and  
b. Name and breed of the donor animal; and  
c. Date of semen collection from the donor animal.  
*pellets must be packaged in cryovials suitable for maintaining the product’s integrity during 
storage and transport. The cryovial must be indelibly marked with a unique identification 
code, referenced on the veterinary certificate, to enable identification of semen.  
 
8. The shipping container was  
a. new; or 
b. Prior to loading, the shipper was emptied and inspected and any loose straws 
removed. The shipper, including all surfaces contacting the straws, was disinfected 
with one of the following disinfectants: 2% available chlorine, Virkon at 
manufacturers recommended rate or irradiated at 50kGray.  
 
9. Only new liquid nitrogen was added to the shipping container.  
 
10. The semen wa s stored under the supervision of an Approved Veterinarian until sealed for 
export with a tamper evident seal.  
 
All other countries approved by the Australian Government  
All other countries approved by the Australian Government for the import of frozen ca nine semen 
are list ed below:  
 
American Samoa; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Aruba; Austria; Bahamas; Bahrain; Barbados; 
Belgium; Bermuda; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba ; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Canada; Cayman 
Islands; Chile; Christmas Islands; Cook Islands; Croatia; Curacao; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; 3 Falkland Islands (Malvinas); Fiji; Finland; France; French Polynesia; Germany; Gibraltar; Greece; 
Greenland; G uam; Guernsey; Hong Kong; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland; Isle of Man; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; 
Japan; Jersey; Kiribati; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Macau; 
Malaysia (Excl. Federal Territory of Labuan); Malta; Mauritius; Microne sia, Federated States of; 
Monaco; Montenegro; Nauru; Netherlands; New Caledonia; Niue; North Mariana Islands (Saipan 
only); Norway; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Reunion; Saint Kitts 
and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent an d the Grenadines; Samoa; Serbia; Seychelles; Singapore; Sint 
Maarten; Slovakia; Slovenia; Solomon Islands; South Africa; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Taiwan; 
Tonga; Trinidad & Tobago; Tuvalu; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; Uruguay; 
Vanuatu; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S; Wallis & Futuna Islands  
 
The following information must be provided for each donor on the veterinary health certificate:  
 Breed  
 Microchip number  
 Date/s of semen collection/s  
 Number of straws/cryovials  in this consignment  
 Straw/cryovial identification  
 Dates of clinical examinations, sampling for tests required, type of test used, test results.  
 
The veterinary certificate must include the following statements:  
 
1. Between the first and last semen collection  for this consignment, the donor must be resident 
in an approved country (Group 1, Group 2 or Group 3 on the approved country list) and must 
not be under quarantine restriction.    
 
2. The donor dog must be tested with a negative result for Brucella canis  using either a rapid 
slide agglutination test, a tube agglutination test or indirect fluorescent antibody test, on a 
blood sample collected between 30 and 45 days following the last collection of semen in the 
export consignment.  
 
3. The donor dog must be tested with a negative result for Leishmania infantum  using either 
indirect fluorescent antibody test or enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, on a blood sample 
collected between 30 and 45 days following the last collection of semen in the export 
consignment.  
 
4. a. The donor dog must  be tested with a negative result (less than 50% agglutination) at a 
serum dilution of 1:100 using a microscopic agglutination test for Leptospira interrogans sv. 
Canicola, on a blood sample collected between 30 and 45 days following the la st collection of 
semen in the export consignment; or  
 
b. be fully vaccinated against Leptospira interrogans sv. Canicola  at least 14 days before the 
first collection of semen in the export consignment and the vaccination must be current at 
the time of the last collection of semen in the export consignment.  
 
5. The donor must be examined by a Government approved veterinarian or Official 
Government Veterinarian and found to be healthy and free from evidence of infectious or 
contagious disease (including venereally transmitted disease), on each day of semen 
collect ion for this export consignment and again between 30 and 45 days after the date of 
the last collection of semen in this export consignment.  
 4 6. All semen collection for this export consignment must be conducted by a Government 
Approved Veterinarian or Offici al Government Veterinarian.  
 
7. The semen must be processed in either straw or pellet* form and be packaged and 
identifiable by clearly legible markings, as follows:  
a. Microchip number of the donor animal; and  
b. Species and breed of the donor animal; and  
c. Date of semen collection from the donor animal.  
*pellets must be packaged in cryovials suitable for maintaining the product’s integrity during 
storage and transport. The cryovial must be indelibly marked with a unique identification 
code, referenced on the veteri nary certificate, to enable identification of semen.  
 
8. The shipping container was  
a. new; or 
b. Prior to loading, the shipper was emptied and inspected and any loose straws 
removed. The shipper, including all surfaces contacting the straws, was disinfected 
with o ne of the following disinfectants: 2% available chlorine, Virkon at 
manufacturers recommended rate or irradiated at 50kGray.  
 
9. Only new liquid nitrogen was added to the shipping container.  
 
10. a. All semen in the export consignment must be stored in container s with no other biological 
material other than semen of equivalent health status from the date of collection until 
export; and  
 
b. A Government Approved Veterinarian or Official Government Veterinarian must supervise 
the storage of semen from collection un til the tank is sealed for export.  
 
11. The shipping container must be sealed with an official government seal and the Official 
Government Veterinarian must record the official seal number on the veterinary health 
certificate.  
 
12. a. All donor treatments, collection of specimens and examinations must be conducted in an 
approved country by an Official Government Veterinarian or a Government Approved 
Veterinarian; and  
 
b. All donor testing must be conducted in an approved country and in a laboratory 
recognise d by the competent authority of the country of export. All laboratory reports must 
be in English and contain the microchip number stated on the Veterinary Health Certificate 
and the date of blood sample collection for testing; and  
 
c. A separate Veterinary  Health Certificate must be provided for each donor in this export 
consignment; and  
 
d. An Official Government Veterinarian must sign, date and stamp (with the stamp of the 
Competent Authority of the country of export) each page of the Veterinary Health 
Certificate. All documents e.g. laboratory reports which form part of the extended health 
certification must be signed by an Official Government Veterinarian and stamped with the 
stamp of the competent authority in the country of export.