Notification System for the Importation of Animals

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan commenced the notification system for importation of animals in order to prevent outbreaks of zoonoses derived from imported animals on September 1, 2005.

Under the system, any importer of animals* (Live terrestrial mammals, Live birds and carcasses of rodents and Lagomorpha) is required to submit a written declaration giving the specified information on the animals to be imported, such as their species name and quantity, to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (the quarantine station concerned), accompanied by a health certificate issued by the government authorities of the exporting country certifying that the animals are free from the infectious diseases specified for each species.

The system is aimed at taking prompt action (including follow-up) based on the declared information in the event of infections associated with imported animals, as well as ensuring the safety of imported animals themselves through a health certificate issued by the government authorities of the exporting country.

The system doesn’t cover animals that have already been quarantined, or whose importation is banned.

Animals that have already been quarantined by the Animal Quarantine Service of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan.
Artiodactyla (Cattle, Sheep, Goat, Giraffe etc.), Perissodactyla (Horse, Zebra etc.), Lagomorpha (Rabbit etc.), Poultry (Fowl, Ostrich, Duck etc.)	Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control Law
Dog, Cat, Raccoon, Fox, and Skunk	Rabies Prevention Law
Monkeys (specified condition)	Infectious Diseases Control Law
Animals whose importation is banned by Infectious Diseases Control Law.
Chinese ferret badger, Bat, Raccoon-dog, Masked palm civet, Prairie dog, Mastomys natalensis, Monkey	Infectious Diseases Control Law

<INFORMATION> 
Enforcement Regulation of the Act (No,99 of 1998) was revised and promulgated on March 17, 2016, and took effect on August 1, 2016. The columns 2 and 3 of Appended table 1-(5) of the Enforcement Regulation were revised as follows.

Column1 (Subject)	Column 2 (Infectious diseases)	Column 3 (Contents of the certification)
Birds	West Nile fever, highly pathogenic avian influenza and low pathogenic avian influenza	The birds show no clinical signs of West Nile fever, highly pathogenic avian influenza or low pathogenic avian influenza at the time of shipment For birds that have been raised since hatching, those that have been kept for the past 21 days or since hatching in a storage facility (limited to those with preventive measures against the invasion of mosquitoes) in regions that the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare has designated as regions where highly pathogenic avian influenza or low pathogenic avian influenza has not been confirmed. Except for birds that have been raised since hatching, those that have been kept for the past 21 days or since hatching in a quarantine facility (limited to those with preventive measures against the invasion of mosquitoes) in a designated as region where highly pathogenic avian influenza or low pathogenic avian influenza has not been confirmed.

The underlined parts are changes.

1 Outline of the Notification System for Importation of Animals

1) For individuals who have animals from overseas (Leaflet)
(ENGILISH PDF:3,760KB)  (中文（简体字）PDF:3,247KB)  (Spanish PDF:4,061KB)  (ภาษาไทย（Thai）PDF:3,903KB) 
2) Outline (Figure)(PDF:197KB)

2 Details of the Notification System for Importation of Animals

1) Details(PDF:570KB) 
2) Notification Form (PDF:80KB,EXCEL:34KB)(Example(PDF:346KB) ) 
3) Health Certificate Sample(PDF:259KB) 

3 The list of designated regions for birds

4 The contents of the information concerning the establishments of rodents submitted by the government authority of exporting country to Japan(PDF:86KB)

5 Importations of Research Rodents(PDF:63KB)

6 Statistical Information. Animal Importation in Japan.(PDF:149KB)

7 Q&A on Notification System for the Importation of Animals 

8 The List of Destination Quarantine Station

Go to Japanese home page

* Please refer to Animal Quarantine Service for importation of next animals procedure. Dog, Cat, Racoon, Fox, Skunk, Monkey, Domestic animal, Cloven-hoofed animal, poultry Go to Animal Quarantine Service home page

* If you import the animal subject to CITES, further document is required. Please click here for details.

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