Page 1 REVISION OF SINGAPORE’S IMPORT REQUIREMENTS FOR DOG S AND CATS 
 
Background  
 
1. Currently, only dogs and cats from four countrie s, namely Australia, New 
Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland, are exempt ed from the Agri-Food and 
Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA)’s quarantin e requirements.  Dogs and cats 
from all other countries are required to be vaccina ted against rabies, upon arrival in 
Singapore and subject to 30-day quarantine at Semba wang Animal Quarantine 
Station (SAQS). 
 
2. The AVA adopted a risk management approach when reviewing the current 
import requirements for dogs and cats to determine whether any of the dogs and cats 
may be exempted from quarantine, when they are impo rted into Singapore.  The basis 
for removing the quarantine requirement is applicab le as follows: 
2.1. Dogs and cats originating from countries/regio ns free from rabies or 
have low rabies incidence and/or shown to have effe ctive rabies control within 
the countries/regions. 
2.2 The use of safe and effective inactivated rabie s vaccines. 
2.3 The use of microchip to identify individual ani mals. 
2.4 The reliability of rabies antibody serology to demonstrate protection in 
the dogs and cats. 
 
3. In this review, the AVA has taken into considera tion the OIE guidelines, the UK 
Pet Travel Scheme as well as the European Food Safe ty Authority’s (EFSA) 
“Assessment of the risk of rabies introduction into  the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Malta, as 
a consequence of abandoning the serological test me asuring protective antibodies to 
rabies”, adopted by the Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) on 11 
December 2006.  The AVA’s International Advisory Co mmittee of Experts had also 
provided advice during the review process and endor sed the approach in mitigating 
risk of introducing rabies into Singapore. 
 
Risk Categorisation of Countries/Regions  
 
4. Countries/regions are categorised according to t he rabies risk posed by 
different countries.  A questionnaire had earlier b een sent to various countries/regions 
so as to assess the risk posed by individual countr y/region.  The questionnaire (Annex 
A) includes information, such as: 
4.1 Prevalence and incidence of rabies in animals a nd humans in the past 5 
years. 
4.2 Veterinary infrastructure 
4.3 Animal health regulations specifically on rabie s e.g. contingency plans, 
control programmes, import policy Page 2 5. The new categorisation is as follows: 
5.1 Category A (countries traditionally free from r abies, namely Australia, 
United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand);  
5.2 Category B (countries with negligible risk of r abies),  
5.3 Category C (countries with controlled risk, or with low incidence of 
rabies); and  
5.4 Category D (other countries, undetermined risk) . 
 
6. There will be no quarantine requirements for cou ntries listed in Categories A 
and B, although countries listed in Category B will  need to fulfill pre-export residency, 
and rabies vaccination and testing requirements.  F or countries in Category C, two 
options are available; and the quarantine period wi ll either be reduced to 10 days, or 
remain at 30 days, depending on the option chosen.  For countries listed in Category 
D, the quarantine period remains at 30 days and the  dog/cat will be vaccinated 
against rabies upon arrival in Singapore.  The deta ils of the risk mitigation measures 
for respective categories are attached as Annex B.   
 
7. Fourteen countries/regions had provided informat ion and the preliminary 
categorisation of these countries and regions are a s follows: 
 
Category A  
Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland (no  change) 
Catagory B   
Italy, Norway,  Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, 
Taiwan, USA (Hawaii and Guam only) 
Category C  
USA (except Hawaii and Guam), Canada, Belgium, Neth erlands and 
Spain 
Category D  
South Korea 
 
Implementation  
 
8. A WTO notification has been made on 1 April 2009  and the adoption of the 
requirements is targeted to be 1 July 2009.  The en try into force of the requirements 
will be on 1 January 2010, so that eligible animals  can make preparation to meet the 
requirements.  Countries/regions, which have not be en categorised in paragraph 7 
above, are invited to submit a response to the ques tionnaire in Annex A for the 
purpose of risk assessment and categorisation.  Cou ntries which do not submit a 
request for risk assessment and categorisation will  automatically be placed under 
Category D. Page 3 Annex A 
 
AGRI-FOOD AND VETERINARY AUTHORITY (AVA) QUESTIONNA IRE 
CONCERNING NATIONAL RABIES CONTROL 
 
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) of Sin gapore has prepared 
the following list of questions to assess the rabie s situation in countries 
wishing to export animals to Singapore. The questio ns are meant to help 
the AVA to establish whether a country is rabies fr ee or where rabies is well 
controlled. This would enable Singapore to consider  whether to waive 
quarantine for import of pet animals.  
 
Please answer the questions in detail to help the A VA reach a decision in 
the matter. This would help pet owners who want to travel to Singapore with 
their pets.  
 
1. Is rabies a notifiable disease in your country and is it compulsory to 
report all rabies cases?  
  
2. Does your country have an established surveillance system for rabies? 
If yes, please briefly describe the system, outline  the capabilities of the 
laboratory and any accreditation that it has achiev ed as well as provide 
the results for the past five years.  
 
3. Does your country have a contingency plan in a case  of rabies 
suspicion? If yes, please briefly outline the conti ngency plan, including 
the reporting structure in a case of rabies suspici on.  
 
4.  Has there been any case of rabies in wild animals w ithin the country 
during the past five years? If yes, how many cases were reported? What 
were the strains of the rabies virus?  
 
5. Has there been any case of rabies in domestic anima ls within the 
country during the past five years? If yes, how man y cases were 
reported? What were the strains of the rabies virus ?  
 
6. Has there been any case of dog or cat rabies within  the country over the 
past five years? If yes, how many cases were report ed? What were the 
strains of the rabies virus?  Page 4  
7. What are the measures imposed by your authorities, if there is animal 
bite incident, involving domestic animals, especial ly when the “biter” is 
suspected to be rabid?  
 
8. Does your country have a control program for wild a nimal rabies? If yes, 
please briefly outline the program.  
 
9. What are the measures (e.g. verification of health certificate and rabies 
vaccination) for the border inspection for dogs and  cats?  
 
10. What is the vaccination protocol for dogs and cats in your country? 
Does your country use live or inactivated vaccine?  
 
11. Is it compulsory to vaccinate all dogs and cats in your country against 
rabies? If yes, what are the specifications of the vaccine used?  
 
12. What are the import regulations (e.g. quarantine pe riod, vaccination 
against rabies, microchipping and blood test for ra bies antibodies level) 
for dogs and cats?  
 
13. What are the current quarantine protocol and requir ements?  
 
14. Please provide an estimate of the total populations  of dogs and cats 
(feral and domesticated) in your country?  
 
15. What is the system of traceability for dogs and cat s in your country? 
 
16. What is the legislation in place to control rabies in your country? 
 
17. Has there been any rabies case in humans (from dogs  and cats) over 
the past five years? If there were, was there inves tigation to trace the 
source? 
 Page 5 18. Are there laboratory capabilities within your count ry to perform rabies 
serology?  Please provide name and address of the l aboratories and 
type of tests performed?  Are the laboratories accr edited for the test? 
 
19. If there are no laboratory capabilities to perform rabies serology, where 
are blood samples sent? 
 
20. Are there measures and procedures enforced in your country to ensure 
that blood samples sent to laboratories are correct ly identified to the 
animal of origin? 
 
The AVA is grateful for your help and co-operation.  The AVA would also 
appreciate it if we could refer back to you if we n eed to seek any 
clarification to your answers.  
 
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have an y questions! 
 
Yours Sincerely, 
 
 
 
Import and Export Division 
Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority  Page 6 Annex B 
 
 
 
 
Condition Cat A Cat B Cat C1 
Animals with prior 
vaccination Cat C2  
Animals with prior 
vaccination 
 Cat D 
6 month continuous residency or since birth in the country/region of that category or higher  Yes Yes Yes Yes No 
Pre-export Vaccination  NA Vaccinate at least 1 
month prior to export  (This could be a primary vaccination OR part of a valid vaccination programme 
1) Vaccinate at least 4 months prior to export  (This could be a primary vaccination OR part of a valid vaccination programme 
1) 
 Following the date of sampling for serology (as described below), administer an additional rabies vaccination at least 1 month prior to export.   Vaccinate at least 3 months prior to export   (This could be a primary vaccination OR part of a valid vaccination programme 
1) 
  Vaccinate at least 6 months prior to export 
 
 (This could be a primary vaccination OR part of a valid vaccination programme 
1) 
 
Pre-export Serology 2 NA Serology at least 1 
month after vaccination  Serology at least 1 month after vaccination, prior to additional vaccination and within 6 months prior to export  Serology at least 1 month after vaccination and within 6 months prior to export Serology at least 1 month after vaccination and within 6 months prior to export 
Post arrival vaccination NA NA NA NA 
 Vaccinate 
Post arrival Quarantine  NA  NA 10 days 30 days 30 days 
                                                 
1 Valid vaccination programme refers to a primary va ccination and/or an up to date booster according to  the vaccine manufacturer’s 
recommendation.  
2 Titre must be at least 0.5 IU. The dog/cat must hav e a blood sample taken and tested for acceptable ra bies antibody levels after vaccination. 
Following the date of sampling for serology, the do g/cat must maintain valid vaccination against rabie s.  Page 7  
 
 
Condition Cat A Cat B Cat C1 
Animals with prior 
vaccination Cat C2  
Animals with prior 
vaccination 
 Cat D 
Non-compliance (does not meet residency requirement Quarantine to meet shortfall in residency requireme nt 
 
Non-compliance (does not meet pre-export vaccination requirement) NA Vaccinate upon arrival 
and serology 
2 1 month 
after vaccination and quarantine animal until the results are out  Vaccinate upon arrival and serology 
2 1 month after 
vaccination and quarantine for 120 days Vaccinate upon arrival and serology 
2 1 month after 
vaccination and quarantine for 120 days Vaccinate upon arrival and serology 
2 
1 month after vaccination and quarantine for 180 days  
Non-compliances (does not meet serology 
2 requirement) NA Serology upon arrival 
and quarantine until satisfactory titre results are out Serology upon arrival and quarantine for 10 days or until satisfactory serology results are out, whichever is later  The animal may be returned to the country of export if the serology test results do not meet AVA’s requirements. Serology upon arrival and quarantine for 30 days or until satisfactory serology results are out, whichever is later  The animal may be returned to the country of export if the serology test results do not meet AVA’s requirements. Serology upon arrival and quarantine for 30 days or until satisfactory serology results are out, whichever is later  The animal may be returned to the country of export if the serology test results do not meet AVA’s requirements.