Regulations for Importation of Dogs or Cats into Taiwan 
 
(In case of any discrepancy between the English version and the Chinese text of these Requirem ents, the Chinese text shall gove rn.) 
 
Promulgated by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, Council of Agriculture, Executive 
Yuan on 14 February 2003 
Amended by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, Council of Agriculture, Executive 
Yuan on 18 February 2005 
Amended by the Council of Agriculture , Executive Yuan on 4 December 2013. 
 
Article 1 
This set of regulations is established pur suant to Article 34-1 paragraph 1 of the 
"Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Disease." 
 Article 2 Terms used in this set of regulations are defined as follows: 1. Rabies-free countries/zones and rabies-infected countries/zones: these are 
referred to the "List of Infectious An imal Diseases-free and Disease Infected 
Countries (Zones)" promulgated by the co mpetent authority of this Country 
pursuant to Article 33 of the "Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious 
Animal Disease." 
2. The inactivated vaccine: a vaccine made  from killed viruse s (or bacteria) and 
biotechnology-derived subun it antigens, killed viru ses, killed bacteria, 
recombinant protein or un-re plicable gene vectors. 
3. The disaster: it is referred to Article 2 of "Disaster Prevention and Protection 
Act." 
4. The authorities of disaster prevention and protection: they are the Central 
Regulating Authorities which is refe rred to the Articles 3 of "Disaster 
Prevention and Protection Act", and the Regulating Authorities which is 
referred to the Article 4 of "Disas ter Prevention and Protection Act." 
5. The rescue dog: the dog is trained to assist  in search and rescue in the disaster 
area. 
6. The visually impaired: the people define d by the item 2 of Article 5 of "People 
with Disabilities Rights Protection Act." 
7. The guide dog: the dog is referred to the "regulations of qualification and 
management for the guide dogs and puppies ", or the dog with certificate which 
is issued by the training agency a pproved by the International Guide Dog 
Federation. 
 
Article 3 
The dog or cat for importation shall meet the following requirements: 1. The dog or cat is at least 90 days old; and 
2. The dog or cat shall have been vaccinate d with inactivated vaccines against 
rabies within the time period between 30 days to 1 year prior to shipment. 
3. When the dog or cat is imported from ra bies-infected countries/zones, it shall 
be subjected to rabies neutralization antibody titer test.  
The date of blood 
sampling shall be within the time period between 180 days to 1 year prior to  
 - 2 - shipment.  The test shall be done by th e rabies reference laboratories of the 
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) or the laboratories designated by 
the animal quarantine aut hority of this Country. 
 The laboratories shall issue 
the report attesting that the titer of rabi es neutralization antibody is at least 
0.5IU/ml.  If the blood sampling has been done before export of the dog or cat from this Country, the time requirement of blood sampling of at least 180 days 
prior to the importation can be exempted. 
 Article 4 The importer shall apply for the import permit for the dog or cat from animal 
quarantine authority at the port of entr y at least 20 days prior to shipment. 
It is 
not applicable to the importer who has a pplied for the import permit prior to the 
previous exportation of the dog or cat from this Country. 
 Before importing the dog or cat from rabies-infected countries/zones, the importer shall apply for the post-entry quarantine space in the quaran tine facility to the 
animal quarantine authority at the port of entry.  
Until the quarantine space is 
secure, the dog or cat will not  be allowed to enter.  
When the competent 
authorities of disaster prevention and protec tion import rescue dogs or the visually 
impaired import their corresponding guide dogs from a rabies-infected country/zone, they may apply to the anim al quarantine authority for these dogs to 
be quarantined at designated premises re ferred to as stated in paragraph 2 of 
Article 34-1 of the "Statute for Preven tion and Control of Infectious Animal 
Disease."  Article 5 
Applying for an import permit, the importe r shall submit a completed application 
form and photocopies of the following documents: 1. Veterinarian-issued certificate of v accination against rabies is indeed 
inactivated vaccine; 
2. Civil identification card of the importer.   If the importer is not a resident and 
thus not registered in Taiwan, the othe r personal identification documents shall 
be provided; 
3. The certificates or other proving docum ents of visual impairment and the 
certificates of the guide dog, only applicable to the import of the guide dogs by the visually impaired; and 
4. The report of rabies neutralization antib ody titer test which is in compliance 
with item 3 of Article 3, only applicable  to the dog or cat from rabies-infected 
country/zones. 
 The rabies vaccination certificate shall be  in Chinese or English and state the 
breed, sex, age, microchip numbe r and date of vaccination. 
 If the documents are not in compliance with  paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 of this 
Article or the rabies vaccination is not in  compliance with item 2 of Article 3, the  
 - 3 - import permit shall not be issued. 
 If the scheduled date of entry needs to be changed after the import permit is issued, 
the importer shall submit an application with a photocopy of the original import permit and apply to the authority of orig inal issuance for the change before the 
expiry date of the original import permit. 
 
Article 6 Upon arrival of the dog or cat at the port of entry, the importer shall apply to the 
animal quarantine authority for quarantin e inspection and submit the original 
import permit, original veterinary certif icate issued by the animal quarantine 
authority of exporting country, photocopy of  bill of lading, photocopy of airway 
bill or custom declaration form. 
 
Article 7 For importation of the dog or cat from rabies-infected countries/zones, the 
veterinary certificate issued by the an imal quarantine authority of exporting 
country shall state the following info rmation in Chinese or English: 
1. The series number of the import permit (otherwise the photocopy of the import 
permit shall be provided); 
2. Breed, sex, age, and microc hip number of the dog or cat; 
3. Date of vaccination against rabies, wh ich is in compliance with item 2 of 
Article 3; 
4. No clinical signs of rabies show n upon inspection of the dog or cat; and 
5. The result of the rabies neutralization an tibody titer test which shall be at least 
0.5 IU/ml, date of sampling and name of laboratory.  Otherwise the original 
report of rabies neutralization antibo dy titration test shall be provided. 
 Article 8 For importation of the dog or cat from rabi es-free countries/zones, the veterinary 
certificate issued by the anim al quarantine authority of exporting country shall state 
the following information in Chinese or English: 1. The series number of import permit (oth erwise the photocopy of the import 
permit shall be provided); 
2. Breed, sex, age, and microc hip number of the dog or cat; 
3. Date of vaccination against rabies, wh ich is in compliance with item 2 of 
Article 3; 
4. No clinical sign of rabies shown upon inspection of the dog or cat; 
5. No case of rabies in the exporting country for the past 2 years; and 
6. The dog or cat has been raised in the e xporting country continuously for at least 
6 months prior to shipment or since birth. 
 Article 9 In response to the needs of rescue during a disaster in this Country, the importation 
of rescue dogs under the pe rmission of the authorities of disaster prevention and  
 - 4 - protection is not subject to the requirement s of item 2 and item 3 of Article 3, and 
Article 4 to Article 8.  Before importing a rescue dog, the importe r shall submit to animal quarantine 
authority at the port of entry an app lication, the photocopies of the rabies 
vaccination certificate and the import perm it from the competent authorities of 
disaster prevention and protection.  Post-e ntry quarantine shall be exempted for a 
rescue dog imported from or transshipped th rough rabies-infected countries/zones. 
 On arrival of a rescue dog at the port of  entry, the importer shall apply to the 
animal quarantine authority for quarantin e inspection and submit the original 
veterinary certificate issued by the an imal quarantine authority of exporting 
country. 
 If the rescue dog passes quarantine inspection, the animal quarantine 
authority at the port of entry will i ssue the import veterinary certificate.  
The 
original veterinary certificate shall stat e the following information in Chinese or 
English: 
1. Breed, sex, age and microchi p number of the rescue dog; 
2. Dates of rabies vaccination w ith inactivated vaccines; and 
3. No clinical sign of rabies show n upon inspection of the rescue dog. 
 After the rescue dog is imported, if nece ssary, the animal inspection authority of 
the prefecture in the disast er area and the animal qu arantine authority may send 
officers to inspect the rescue dog.  Article 10 
 
When the rescue dog or guide dog is scheduled for re-import within 3 months after 
being exported from this Country, the impor ter shall submit an application and the 
photocopy of the export veterinary certific ate of this Country to the animal 
quarantine authority at the port of entry for the import permit application.  The 
requirements of Article 3, paragraph 1 of Ar ticle 4, and Article 5 to Article 8 shall 
be exempted for such dogs.  Upon arrival of such rescue dog or guide dog at the port of entry, the importer shall 
apply to the animal quarantine authority  for quarantine inspection and submit a 
photocopy of the export veterinary certific ate of this Country and the original 
veterinary certificate issued by the an imal quarantine authority of exporting 
country.  The original veterinary certificate mentione d in paragraph 2 of this Article shall 
state the following information in Chinese or English: 
1. Breed, sex, age, and microchip number of the rescue dog or guide dog. 
2. No clinical sign of rabies shown upon inspection of the rescue dog or guide 
dog. 
  
 - 5 - When the rescue dog or guide dog mentioned in the first paragraph of this Article 
is imported from rabies-infected countries/zones or transshipped through rabies-infected countries/zones, a post- entry quarantine period of 21 days is 
required.  The post-entry quarantine may be exempted if the requirements of 
Article 3 are met.  
Article 11 
For re-import of the dog or cat that has been exported from this Country to a rabies-free countries/zones for less than 6 months, the importer shall apply for an 
import permit at least 20 days prior to sh ipment and submit an application with the 
photocopy of documents referred in paragr aph 1 of Article 5 and the photocopy of 
the export veterinary certificat e of this Country to the animal quarantine authority 
at the port of entry.  The importer shall also apply for qua rantine inspection on arrival of the 
re-imported dog or cat in accordance with Article 6.  The veterinary certificate 
issued by the animal quarantine author ity of the exporting country which is 
accompanied with the re-imported dog or cat shall be in compliance with item1 to 
item 5 of Article 8, and attest that "The dog (cat) never traveled to a third country 
since it arrived in this Country." 
 
Article 12 When making quarantine inspection of the dog or cat imported from 
rabies-infected countries/zones, animal qua rantine authority at the port of entry 
shall check the veterinary certificate issu ed by the animal quarantine authority of 
exporting country and detain the dog or ca t at the designated post-entry quarantine 
premises for 21 days.  The animal quarantine authority should not issue an import 
veterinary certificate until the dog or cat is confirmed free from suspicion of any 
infectious animal diseases.  Article 13 The following are applicable to the dog or cat imported from rabies-infected 
countries/zones: 1. If the dog or cat is not accompanied with  an original veterinary certificate 
issued by the animal quarantine author ity of exporting country, it shall be 
detained at the port of entry until the co rrect certificate is provided before due 
date, otherwise the dog or cat sh all be rejected or destroyed. 
2. If the information attested in the veterina ry certificate is not in compliance with 
item 2 to item 5 of Article 7, the dog or cat  shall be detained at the port of entry 
until the correct information is provided before the due date, otherwise the dog 
or cat shall be rejected, detained at the designated post-entry quarantine 
premises for 180 days or destroyed. 
3. If the rabies vaccination is not in comp liance with item 2 of Article 3, the dog 
or cat shall be rejected, given a booster vaccination with one dose of inactivated 
rabies vaccine and detained  at the designated post-entry quarantine premises for  
 - 6 - 30 days, or destroyed. 
4. If the date of blood sampling for rabies neutralization antibody titer test is less 
than 180 days prior to shipment, the dog or cat shall be rejected , detained at the 
designated post-entry quarantine prem ises for 180 days or destroyed. 
5. If the dog or cat is not implanted with a microchip, it shall be rejected, 
destroyed or implanted with a microc hip immediately after arriving at the 
designated post-entry quarantine premises and detained in the premises for 180 
days. 
 Article 14 When making quarantine inspection of th e dog or cat imported from rabies-free 
countries/zones, the animal quarantine author ity at the port of entry shall check the 
veterinary certificate.  The animal quara ntine authority should not issue an import 
veterinary certificate until the veterinary certificate complies with Article 3 and 
Article 8, and the dog or cat is conf irmed free from suspicion of notifiable 
infectious animal diseases. 
 
Article 15 The following are applicable to the dog or cat imported from rabies-free 
countries/zones, any violation shall be treated as follows: 
1. If the dog or cat is not accompanied with  an original veterinary certificate 
issued by the animal quarantine author ity of exporting country, it shall be 
detained at the port of entry until the co rrect certificate is provided before the 
due date, otherwise the dog or cat sh all be rejected or destroyed. 
2. If the information attested in the veterina ry certificate is not in compliance with 
item 2 to item 6 of Article 8, the dog or cat  shall be detained at the port of entry 
until the correct information is provided before the due date, otherwise the dog 
or cat shall be rejected, detained at the designated post-entry quarantine 
premises for 21 day or destroyed. 
3. If the dog or cat is transshipped through rabies-infected countries/zones, it shall 
be in compliance with one of the followi ngs otherwise the dog or cat shall be 
rejected, detained at the designated post- entry quarantine premises for 21 days 
or destroyed: 
(1) The cage shall be sealed  by the authority of the exporting country, the 
number or mark of seal shall be atte sted in the veterinary certificate. 
(2) The importer shall provide the relevant certificate(s) issued by the authority 
of animal quarantine, custom, air line or shipping company.  The 
certificate shall attest that  the dog or cat never leav es the airport or harbor, 
and never contacts other animals. 
4. If there is the suspicion that the dog or  cat may be infected with notifiable 
infectious animal diseases on arrival,  the dog or cat shall be detained in 
designated post-entry quarantine premis es for quarantine until suspicion is 
dissolved. 
5. If the vaccination is not in compliance w ith item 2 of Article 3 on arrival, the 
dog or cat shall be detained at the designated post-entry quarantine premises  
 - 7 - until 30 days has elapsed since last vaccination. 
6. If the dog or cat is not implanted with a microchip, it shall be rejected, 
destroyed or implanted with microchi p immediately after arriving at the 
designated post-entry quarantine premises and detained in the premises for 180 
days. 
 
Article 16 
If the dog or cat imported from rabies-inf ected countries/zones is under 90 days of 
age at the time of arrival, it shall be detained for quarantine and given a 
vaccination against rabies with inactivated  vaccine at the age of 90 days.  The 
animal quarantine authority should not issu e the import veterinary certificate, until 
180 days has elapsed since the vaccinati on and the dog or cat is confirmed free 
from suspicion of notifiable infectious animal diseases.  If the dog or cat imported from rabies-free countries/zones is under 90 days of age 
at the time of arrival, it shall be deta ined for quarantine a nd given a vaccination 
against rabies with inactivated vaccin e at the age of 90 days.  The animal 
quarantine authority should not issue th e import veterinary certificate, until 30 
days has elapsed since the vaccination a nd the dog or cat is confirmed free from 
suspicion of notifiable infectious animal diseases.  Article 17 The animal quarantine authority shall desi gnate a quarantine officer to escort the 
dog or cat to the designated post-entry qua rantine premises.  The escort may be 
waived for rescue dogs or guide dogs.  
The animal quarantine authority may dele gate the transportation mentioned in 
paragraph 1 of this Article to the releva nt organization, agency, or corporation. 
 The expenditure for the transportation men tioned in paragraph 1 of this Article 
shall be borne by the importer.  If necessa ry, the importer may provide vehicle for 
transportation under the approval of the animal quarantine authority. 
 Article 18 The following are applicable to the dogs  or cats in the post-entry quarantine 
premises: 
1. The result of the re-test of rabies neutralization antibody titer is less than 
0.5 IU/ml, the dog or cat sha ll be given a boost vaccination. 
2. If more than a year has elapsed since last vaccination, the dog or cat shall 
be given a boost vaccination. 
3. If the parturition of imported animals takes place in the post-entry 
quarantine premises, the maternal an imal and her offspring shall be 
detained together until the vaccination of the offspring is in compliance 
with item 2 of Article 3, and the detention of mate rnal animal has met the 
requirements.  The offspring shall be  implanted with a microchip before  
 - 8 - vaccination. 
4. If the animal is suffering, or suspected  of suffering from infectious animal 
diseases, the quarantine officer sh all take actions immediately. 
 If there is suspicion that the dog or cat ma y be infected with notifiable infectious 
animal diseases, the detention period sha ll be extended and the import veterinary 
certificate should not be issued until suspicion is dissolved. 
 Article 19 The costs for detention, medical treatm ent, sampling/examinations, microchip 
implantation, vaccination, destroy of the imported dogs or cats and other 
precautionary measures as deemed necessa ry during quarantine shall be borne by 
the importer.  Article 20 This set of regulations becomes effective on 1
st June 2014.