EU rules affecting the non-commercial movement of pet dogs, cats and ferrets from Great Britain into the European Union took effect on Wednesday 22 April 2026. According to the UK Government’s updated GOV.UK guidance, GB residents can still travel to EU countries with pets, but the compliance route has changed and document checks now carry more weight before departure. The practical point is that this is not a ban on pet travel, nor a major rewrite of the rules for bringing animals back into Great Britain. It is a change to the documents and conditions that GB residents must rely on when taking animals from England, Wales or Scotland into an EU member state for private, non-commercial travel.
The most significant change concerns EU pet passports. GOV.UK states that GB residents should no longer use an EU pet passport to travel into the EU. Under the EU’s revised approach, those passports may now be issued only to people whose main home is in the EU. Owning a holiday home, or spending part of the year in an EU country, is not enough to preserve that route. That also affects older documents. EU pet passports issued to GB residents before 22 April 2026 may no longer be accepted for entry into the EU. APHA’s published advice is that owners resident in Great Britain should obtain an Animal Health Certificate for dogs, cats and ferrets travelling from Great Britain to an EU country if they want to reduce the risk of delays or refused entry.
The Animal Health Certificate remains single-use at the point of departure, so a fresh certificate is still required for each new trip from Great Britain to the EU. What has changed is the period for which that certificate remains usable after arrival. Once the animal has entered the EU, the same certificate can now support onward travel within the EU and re-entry to Great Britain for up to six months, provided the rabies vaccination remains valid. That adjustment should reduce repeat paperwork during one extended stay or a multi-country visit, but it does not remove the need to secure fresh certification before the next departure from Great Britain. In practice, pet owners still need to plan around veterinary appointments, document timing and vaccination validity before each outbound trip.
The rules also set out clearer conditions where the owner is not physically travelling with the animal. If another person accompanies the pet, the pet must travel within five days of the owner. The person accompanying the animal must also carry written permission from the owner, and that authorisation must travel with the pet’s other documentation. This matters for households using relatives, friends or professional drivers to assist with transport. A valid vaccination record on its own will not be enough if the travel pattern falls outside the five-day window or if the written authority is missing. The supporting paperwork therefore needs to be available alongside the pet’s travel documents.
A further operational change concerns numbers. For non-commercial entry into the EU, the limit is now five pets per private vehicle rather than five pets per person. The existing ceiling of five pets for people travelling on foot remains unchanged. Exceptions still apply for animals travelling to competitions, events or training where the specified conditions are met. This is likely to affect families or groups who previously assumed that the total could be worked out by reference to the number of passengers in a car or van. It also sits alongside national rules set by individual member states. GOV.UK advises owners to check the destination country’s specific entry requirements before departure, as local rules can sit on top of the general EU framework.
On the Great Britain side, the Government says there are no major changes to the requirements for bringing pets back. GB residents may still use EU pet passports for the return leg into Great Britain, and the broader message from APHA is that pet holidays remain possible if the paperwork is prepared correctly. The formal change is therefore concentrated on outbound entry into the EU rather than re-entry into Great Britain. The Government has updated its guidance across the relevant GOV.UK pages covering travel to an EU country, the status of pet passports, how to obtain an Animal Health Certificate and the rules for bringing pets back to Great Britain. For travellers, the compliance task is now more exact: confirm residence status, check the destination country’s rules, arrange the correct certificate and ensure any companion carrying the pet has written authority.