BRINGING A DOG FROMFrance →to South Africa

A Veterinary Import Permit from the Department of Agriculture's permit office, in hand before the dog leaves the exporting country. Use the dog form "not subject to quarantine". Pay the permit fee first: R250 from 1 April 2026, within 5 working days before you apply. Individuals put their ID or passport number as the reference on both the form and the payment. E-mail the form and the proof of payment to the permit office. Apply at least 4 weeks before arrival; processing takes 5–10 working days. The permit is valid for a limited period and for one consignment only. The specimen health certificate is sent with it.

the permit must be issued before the dog leaves the exporting country

From 15 September 2025, a proof of payment without a valid, unique application reference number is not accepted.

If no SMS or e-mail has come two weeks after applying, phone the permit office.

Official sources differ — the gov.za services page gives 3–5 working days after approval; the Department's own document gives 5–10 working days.

Permanent identification with a microchip that ISO 11784 or ISO 11785 scanners can read. Tattoos are not accepted. The chip number goes on the health certificate. US exporters must also put it on every laboratory report.

No official source says the chip must be implanted before the rabies vaccination. Some agents say so, but it is not a stated rule.

The health certificate states that the dog has lived in the exporting country since birth, or in the exporting country or South Africa for the last 6 months. The sources do not say what happens to a dog that moved more recently; ask the permit office before applying.

A valid rabies vaccination. A first (primary) vaccination must be given at least 30 days and at most 12 months before arrival. A booster must be given at most 12 months before arrival. It counts as a booster, with no 30-day wait, only if it was given before the previous vaccination expired. The vaccine must meet the WHO potency standard. The original or a copy of the vaccination certificate travels with the health certificate.

• · For pets aged 3 months or more

primary vaccination only; no wait for a booster given before the previous vaccination expired

UK guidance says South Africa can grant a dispensation that shortens the 30-day wait to 15 days. The Department's own documents do not mention it. A dispensation letter costs R420.

Blood tests with NEGATIVE results for five diseases. The samples must be taken within 30 days before arrival. Any government-approved laboratory accredited for these tests can do them, in any country, or the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in South Africa. The report must be in English. Only these methods are accepted. Brucella canis: serum agglutination or rapid slide agglutination. Trypanosoma evansi: card agglutination test AND Giemsa blood smear. Babesia gibsoni: IFAT or ELISA (BgTRAP antigen) AND Giemsa blood smear or real-time PCR. Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis): microfilarial filtration test; Knott's test is not accepted. Leishmania: IFAT, ELISA, direct agglutination or Western blot. Since October 2017 a statement that the country is free of a disease no longer replaces the test. A dog that tests positive cannot be imported.

Dogs from the USA: the surra (T. evansi) tests must be done at one of the two WOAH reference laboratories (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, or Obihiro, Japan). The other tests go to an approved US laboratory.

Dogs from Canada — the surra test is not available in Canada; use an international laboratory.

Any change to a test method or to the 30-day timing needs a dispensation from South Africa. A dispensation letter costs R420.

Samples sent to Onderstepoort: by air cargo only, through O.R. Tambo, with Onderstepoort's master import permit. Some tests run only on Wednesdays, so the samples should arrive by Tuesday.

The 2017 general certificate said "within 30 days of export" and allowed only IFAT + smear for Babesia. The 2022 document and the 2024 Canadian certificate count to the date of import and add ELISA and PCR.

Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) prevention from the day the laboratory reports the negative result until departure, at the product's dosing intervals. Use one of: diethylcarbamazine (5–6 mg/kg daily), ivermectin (6 µg/kg monthly), milbemycin oxime (0.5 mg/kg monthly), moxidectin (3 µg/kg monthly), selamectin (6 mg/kg, Revolution) or the yearly ProHeart SR-12 injection. With ProHeart, nothing more is needed if the negative test falls within 11 months of the injection. Bring enough medicine for 6 more months of treatment in South Africa, where very few heartworm products are registered.

from the date the negative result is reported until export

Tick treatment (acaricide) and insect repellent against biting flies, registered in the exporting country. Start when the blood samples are taken and continue until departure, following the product instructions. The treatment must be given within 30 days before departure.

The UK's agreed certificate 6256EHC (2017) has no tick or fly treatment statement. UK dogs may not need it on paper. Follow the permit.

The 2017 general certificate said "registered in South Africa". The 2022 document and the 2024 Canadian certificate say "registered in the exporting country".

Examined within 10 days before export and found free of internal and external parasites and of contagious and infectious diseases, and fit to travel.

Veterinary Health Certificate on the model sent with the import permit. For dogs this is the general model IMP.DOG.GEN 05/22 CG, unless the exporting country has an agreed certificate that replaces it: the UK uses 6256EHC and Canada uses HA2123. It must be completed in English, on the exporting country's official certificate paper, by a veterinarian authorised by that country's veterinary authority, and signed and stamped by a government veterinarian, all within 10 days of departure. It also certifies: - residence; - the rabies vaccination; - the tests and treatments; - the exam; - that the dog comes from an area without veterinary restrictions for carnivore diseases; - that the dog had no contact with rabies cases; - that it travels in an IATA crate that is new or disinfected. The original certificate travels with the dog.

The pet must travel as MANIFEST CARGO, not as excess baggage. It may fly in the cabin with the owner if the airline allows, but it must still be booked as manifest cargo. On landing, airline staff take it to the cargo terminal for inspection, because there are no state veterinarians at the passenger terminals.

Arrive by air at O.R. Tambo (Johannesburg), Cape Town International or King Shaka (Durban), and leave the aircraft through the cargo terminal. No other airport, seaport or land border post is allowed.

At the cargo terminal, the veterinary import control official checks the originals of the import permit and the health certificate, the laboratory report (in English) and the rabies vaccination certificate. The documents can travel with the dog, or the person collecting the dog presents them. If both originals are not there, the dog is held in quarantine until they are.