South Africa notifies Veterinary Health Certificate, DOG.GEN.12/05 CG (REV JR 05/2008; RW 06/2017), for the import of domestic dogs into South Africa.

Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries notifies Veterinary Health Certificate, DOG.GEN.12/05 CG (REV JR 05/2008; RW 06/2017), for the import of domestic dogs into South Africa.

Due to the transportable nature and increasingly intricate travel history of domestic dogs between different countries, South Africa is applying precautionary sanitary measures by removing the option of not testing for diseases of concern if the country claims freedom from any particular disease of concern. The following five diseases require official pre-export testing within 30 days prior to export at a government approved laboratory, for domestic dogs: "Brucella canis, Babesia gibsoni, Dirofilaria immitis, Leishmania and Trypanosomiasis". All other South African import requirements for domestic dogs must also be adhered to.

Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reason for urgent action: The complex travel history of domestic dogs between different countries make the country freedom declaration irrelevant for a particular disease, if the animal travelled to countries where the disease in question was present. Owner declarations of their domestic dogs' travel history proves unreliable at times. Obligatory testing for the five diseases that require official testing pre-export would reflect an accurate disease status of domestic dogs travelling between different countries. Mandatory testing for the five diseases of concern to South Africa mitigates the risk of possible introduction of the diseases of concern. It also decreases the risk of animals testing positive in quarantine, only to be sent back to the country of origin or humanely destroyed.

Products covered:  Domestic dogs

Date of entry into force (dd/mm/yy)/period of application (as applicable): Sixty days from the date of circulation. Should an individual country wish to have alternate requirements, the country must propose a Veterinary Health Certificate, which addresses the risk of transmission of all the above-mentioned diseases via domestic dogs.

If the Proposal/Notification/Regulation will affect your International Business please send us your representation with facts and figures , so that these can be taken up suitably.