The Animals and Animal Products (Import And Export) Regulations 1998

Import procedure

18.—(1) No person shall import any animal unless he has given one working day’s notice in writing of his intention to do so, specifying the number, nature and estimated time of arrival of the animal, to the official veterinarian of the border inspection post through which the animal is to be imported.

(2) On importation, the importer or his agent shall convey the animal, under the supervision of the enforcement authority, directly to the border inspection post examination area or, where the decisions listed in Schedule 5 or the animal health conditions applicable to imports so require, to a quarantine centre as provided for in the second indent of the first sub-paragraph of Article 10.1 of Council Directive 91/496/EEC.

(3) No person shall remove any animal from a quarantine centre or border inspection post unless there has been provided by the official veterinarian a certificate in the form required under Council Directive 91/496/EEC that all necessary veterinary checks have been carried out in accordance with Articles 4.1, 4.2.a, 4.2.b, 4.2.d, 8 and 9 of that directive to his satisfaction.

(4) No person shall remove any animal from Customs temporary storage arrangements unless the certificate provided under paragraph (3) above has been provided to an officer of Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise and the removal has been authorised by him, and except to the address specified in the required documentation unless required to do so by means of a notice served on him by an inspector.

(5) Where a check involves the taking of a sample for testing and the test result is not immediately available, the official veterinarian may by notice served on the owner or the person in charge of an animal release that animal from the border inspection post, and require that person to keep the animal in accordance with such conditions as may be specified in the notice until the test results are available; and if the test reveals that the animal does not comply with the provisions of Article 5 of Council Directive 91/496/EEC then the provisions of regulation 21 below shall apply as they apply at a border inspection post.