The animal must have an EU-standardised veterinary certificate (health certificate) issued by the competent veterinary authority of the country of origin for non-commercial movement. The issuing official veterinarian must be a local competent authority of the state. Private veterinarians or clinics are not authorised to issue health certificates.
The health certificate can only be issued once all required measures have been completed. The health certificate can be in Finnish, Swedish, or English, and bilingual versions are also allowed. The health certificate is valid for 10 days from the date of issue.
You can find the current health certificate templates on this page under the Forms.
During border crossing, Customs will complete the section at the end of the EU-standardised health certificate and stamp it. The health certificate is valid for the transfer of your own pet within the EU for 4 months from the Customs marking, if the pet is accepted into the EU territory. The certificate can also be stamped if the animal remains in Finland. This works as evidence for later inspection that Customs has approved the transfer of the animal. The owner should ensure that Customs makes the necessary markings on the health certificate.
Examples of competent central authorities in non-EU countries:
United States: United States Department of Agriculture; Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS)
Russia: Rosselkhoznadzor
Japan: Animal Quarantine Service
China: General Administration of Customs of the P. R. China.
In some countries, such as the United States, issuing a health certificate is a two-step process where the approved veterinarian completes the health certificate and the official veterinarian verifies it.
Replacement of the Health Certificate with a Pet Passport
An EU pet passport can replace the EU-standardised health certificate for an animal originally from an EU country if the return requirements (e.g. rabies vaccination) were fulfilled before leaving the EU territory and are valid upon return. The echinococcus treatment annotation is the only entry that a non-EU veterinarian can make in an EU pet passport.
For dogs, cats, and ferrets originating from Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, or the Vatican, a third-country pet passport can replace the EU-standardized health certificate if the return requirements (e.g. rabies vaccination) were fulfilled before departure from the country of origin and are valid upon return. Pet passports from other third countries not listed above are not acceptable identification documents.