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Pet to Argentina: the EU pet passport is accepted, provided the NVWA stamps it

Argentina admits a dog or cat from the EU with an international health certificate or with the EU pet passport, if the official veterinary service has stamped it before departure. You need a valid rabies vaccination, a check-up within 10 days and deworming within 15 days. If the animal travels with you, the inspection is free.

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A dog or cat may come along to Argentina. SENASA, the Argentine animal and plant health service, accepts two documents: a Certificado Veterinario Internacional (CVI), or the EU pet passport, if the official veterinary service of the country of departure has stamped it before the journey. In the Netherlands the NVWA does that. The passport or the CVI must show three things: a valid rabies vaccination, a health check and a treatment against parasites.

What Term
Rabies vaccination, first time at least 21 days before arrival in Argentina
Rabies vaccination, booster valid on the day of arrival
Health check by a vet within 10 days before the CVI is issued
Deworming, internal and external within 15 days before the CVI or the stamping of the passport
Validity of CVI or stamped passport 60 days after issue or stamping
NVWA legalisation appointment request at least 14 working days ahead
Notice to SENASA if the animal travels as cargo at least 24 working hours ahead

Which document do you choose?

The EU pet passport is the simplest for most Dutch people. SENASA accepts it if it is valid, the vaccination, deworming and check-up are in it, and it has been signed and stamped by the official veterinary service before departure. Besides Spanish, English may be the only other language.

The CVI is issued, signed and stamped by the official veterinary service of the country of departure. One of the languages on the CVI must be Spanish. SENASA offers a bilingual model.

How do you arrange it in the Netherlands?

Start in the NVWA's Export Assistant. You choose Argentina, then "dogs, cats and ferrets" and "private individual". If there is a binding certificate with instructions, you follow them; often an NVWA vet then visits you to check your animal. If there is nothing, you email dpp@nvwa.nl and ask what Argentina requires.

For the legalisation of the passport you email the NVWA at least 14 working days before the desired date. The NVWA tries to reply within two working days and gives you an appointment at its office in Utrecht, on a working day between 10:00 and 16:00. Your animal does not need to come. For the legalisation you pay the rate the NVWA publishes.

Count back from your flight date. The deworming may be at most 15 days before the stamping, the stamping at most 60 days before your arrival, and the NVWA wants your email 14 working days in advance. So plan the vet and the NVWA within the same two weeks, and leave no gap between the check-up and the stamping.

Rather have everything for Argentina on one list?

Then we'll send you the departure checklist for Argentina, with every step in order, and five mails about the pitfalls and the real costs. You can switch it off at any time.

We use your address, and your departure date if you fill it in, only for the checklist, the guide and the mails after it. You can unsubscribe under every mail.

What if your animal is young?

If your dog or cat is younger than three months, the official vet must confirm its age, and declare that in the 90 days before departure the animal has not been at a place where rabies occurred. If the animal comes from a country the world organisation for animal health recognises as free of rabies, it can also enter if that is stated on the CVI or in the passport.

What happens on arrival?

If the animal travels with you, in the cabin or in the hold, SENASA checks at the airport the papers, the animal itself and whether the animal is who the papers say. You need not request anything in advance, and the check is free. If the animal travels as cargo, without you, the carrier notifies SENASA at least 24 working hours ahead and you pay a fee.

If something is wrong, SENASA can take measures for the country's animal health, at your expense. A CVI without a stamp, without Spanish or that has expired is not valid.

And if you ever want to go back?

For the return to the Netherlands the EU rules apply. If your animal travels from a country with a high risk of rabies, a blood test is compulsory, and it can only travel to the EU 90 days after the blood sample. That waiting time lapses if you have the test done in the Netherlands before departure and the result entered in the passport. Ask the NVWA whether Argentina counts as a high-risk country, and have the test done straight away if needed.

What else you bring is in household goods to Argentina. How the animal fits into the order of your move is in the route to Argentina.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Argentina or go straight to step 4.4 in the open plan.

What is due when?

Enter your departure date and see day by day what your dog or cat needs for Argentina, from microchip to certificate.

Make your pet timeline →

Want to know more about this?

Then we'll send you the departure checklist for Argentina, with every step in order, and five mails about the pitfalls and the real costs. You can switch it off at any time.

We use your address, and your departure date if you fill it in, only for the checklist, the guide and the mails after it. You can unsubscribe under every mail.

What this rests on

The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.

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