Pet Travel Expert

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently distributed a notice that some important changes are coming to the National Veterinary Accreditation Program (NVAP).  There's a good chance that your local veterinarian might not have heard about this news, and if you're in the midst of planning a pet move, it's important that your veterinarian be informed of these changes.  We'll be checking with all of our customers' veterinarians to ensure that they are up to date on the information.

Why are these changes important to people who travel with pets?

The USDA oversees all of the export documents for pets and live animals departing from the United States.  The system is currently set up so that practicing veterinarians can become accredited through the NVAP, which allows them to obtain and complete official health certificates (for example, the USDA-APHIS Form 7001 which is required for exporting live animals from the US).  This accreditation also means that they are considered a 'government veterinarian' who is able to fulfill pet import requirements for other countries, like blood tests.  Proof of all of these health documents must then be sent to the USDA State veterinarian.  Each state has a designated "Veterinary Services Area Office" where the documents are inspected and endorsed by the State veterinarian. 

In summary: Your veterinarian must be accredited under the NVAP in order to inspect your pet prior to your departure and issue a health certificate.  For more details on how this process works, please see our Pet Travel Forms fact sheet.

Why is the program changing?

Due to concerns about epidemics combined with an "outdated" database of accredited veterinarians and a surge in export document requests over the last 5 years, the USDA began the process of reviewing the NVAP in 2001.  Comments and concerns have been reviewed and a proposed rule was offered to the public in 2006.  The rule was reviewed and as of December, the USDA has begun the process of implementing it.

How is the program changing?

If your vet is already accredited:

All veterinarians who were accredited before February 1, 2010 will need to elect to participate in the NVAP as either a Category I or Category II veterinarian.  Failure to elect to participate, even if a veterinarian is already accredited, will result in the expiration of a veterinarian's accreditation on August 2011.  This will revert a veterinarian's status back to that of a first time applicant, which could make the process of getting accredited again very difficult (see below - "If your vet is not already accredited").

Veterinarians who need to elect to participate in the program can download the required documents on the USDA-APHIS website here.

It is important to note the clear differences and limitations between a Category I and Category II veterinarians.

A Category I veterinarian is authorized to perform accredited duties on the following animals:
All animals except: food and fiber species, horses, birds, farm-raised aquatic animals, all other livestock species and zoo animals that can transmit exotic animal diseases to livestock.

A Category II veterinarian is authorized to perform accredited duties on the following animals:
All animals.

In summary: Choosing a Category I accreditation will prohibit veterinarians from issuing health certificates for certain types of animals.

If your vet is not already accredited:

Any veterinarian who has not been accredited under the old program by February 1, 2010 will have to undergo a very thorough accreditation process that will now require him or her to complete specific APHIS-approved initial accreditation training through a US college of veterinary medicine or through the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges.  For more details on first-time applicants, click here.