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East Midlands Liberal DemocratsBill Newton Dunn and the Liberal Democrats - working for you across the East Midlands |
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Pets get passports for EU travel
September 30, 2004 5:26 PM
As of tomorrow (Friday 1 October), passports will be issued to cats, dogs and ferrets, allowing them to travel with their owners to other EU countries.
Under new EU rules the so-called 'pet passport' will be accepted as proof that a pet has received the anti-rabies vaccination.
The EU has set a period of eight years for Member States to introduce pet identification by a microchip that will link the pet to its individual passport. Britain, who already requires travelling pets to carry the microchip, has led the way in developing the alternative to the long and troublesome six-month quarantine control.
East Midlands Lib Dem Euro-MP Bill Newton Dunn, has long championed the scheme. He said:
"This is good news for British pets and their owners. It is another leap forward for freedom of movement in the European Union. No longer will the bond between pet and owner prevent Britons from living and working in another EU country."
The new rules have been made possible in part by the dramatic decline in the number of cases of rabies amongst cats and dogs recorded annually in the EU. In the last decade, cases fell from 500 to just five.
"Now that the threat of rabies has almost entirely been eliminated, I am glad that the European Commission has followed the British example in making it easier for people to travel with their pets. The misery days of having to put a much loved pet in quarantine for 6 months are now over."
Note for editors:
Harmonised rules on the free movement of pets came into force on 3 July 2004, with pet passports issued in place of national veterinary certificates in the UK from 1 October 2004.
More information and questions and answers on the pet passport can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/animal/liveanimals/pets/index_en.htm
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