Your pet coming along to Panama: a thirty-day certificate, a notice in advance and B/. 65 at the airport

Yes, your dog or cat can come along to Panama, and without a titre test (a blood test for rabies antibodies) or kennel quarantine. Panama asks for three things:

• a health certificate from the Dutch authority, with apostille (an international stamp of authenticity);
• a valid rabies vaccination;
• a notice in advance.

At the airport you pay B/. 25 at the ministry of agriculture and B/. 40 at the ministry of health. B/. stands for the balboa, which is on a par with the dollar.

Pay close attention to the shelf life of the certificate: at most thirty days between issue and arrival, apostille included. The pitfall is in the same requirement list. Anyone who does not meet everything sees their animal held or sent back by the airline.

What exactly does Panama require?

Requirement	What the source says
Health certificate	issued by the authority of the country of origin, with apostille or consular legalisation, at most thirty days old, with the clinical finding that the animal is healthy
Rabies	for puppies given from three months of age and at least thirty days before the journey; for adult animals within validity
Other vaccinations dog	distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvo
Other vaccinations cat	rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, panleukopenia
Parasites	the deworming and antiparasite treatments before departure in the vaccination booklet
Notice	three to five working days before arrival, with the notice form, the certificate and the vaccination booklet
Costs MIDA	B/. 10 for the import licence per species and B/. 15 inspection per animal, in cash
Costs MINSA	B/. 40 per animal for admission and inspection, or B/. 130 if a strict home quarantine is needed

How do you arrange the certificate in the Netherlands?

The NVWA (the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) is the authority that issues or legalises the certificate in the Netherlands. Its step-by-step plan starts with a warning: the preparation for a country outside the EU takes weeks to well over half a year, depending on what that country requires. For Panama that run-up is short, because there is no blood test. The work is in the precision of the last month.

Start with the NVWA's Export Assistant. Choose Panama, then live animals, then dogs, cats and ferrets, then private.

• If an agreed certificate is listed, you follow that instruction.
• If there is none, you email dpp@nvwa.nl with the species, destination, travel date and purpose, and get the applicable requirements back.

Make sure the chip and the rabies vaccination are already in the EU pet passport, because the certificate rests on it.

Then the chain in the Netherlands:

• the vet examines the animal clinically and notes the treatments against worms and ectoparasites (such as fleas and ticks);
• the NVWA certifies;
• the certificate gets an apostille.

Panama also accepts legalisation by a Panamanian consular post, but the apostille is the usual route for the Netherlands.

Thirty days, everything included. The clock starts at the issue of the certificate and stops on arrival in Panama. So plan the vet appointment, the certification and the apostille backwards from the flight date, and not from the moment you have time for it. A certificate five weeks old is worth nothing at Tocumen.