New Pet Travel Rules in Northern Ireland

Under the new pet travel rules, pets will need a microchip and a special travel document that lasts for their whole life. This new plan is part of the Windsor Framework, which is an updated agreement about how trading works in Northern Ireland after Brexit. The goal is to fix some of the problems caused by the old rules.

After Brexit, special arrangements were made under the Northern Ireland Protocol, to ensure that Northern Ireland follows some EU single market rules to avoid the hard border. Therefore, the noncommercial pet travel is under the same EU regulations and Animal Health Certificates are part of that.

Although, Northern Ireland is part of the UK, they have an open land border with no customs checks or border controls with the Republic of Ireland (due to the Common Area Agreement between the UK and Ireland), which is a member of European Union.

These regulations mainly apply to pets traveling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, ensuring that all pets have the right documents before they travel.

However, if you live in Northern Ireland and are returning home with your pet or assistance dog from Great Britain, you won’t need this travel document. This exception is to make things easier for local pet owners traveling back home.

These new rules are being introduced to help manage the challenges that Brexit has created, especially regarding how pets move between the UK and Northern Ireland.

The new pet passport regulations for dogs, cats, and ferrets traveling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland have drawn significant criticism at Westminster. During a debate in the House of Lords, members expressed their outrage over the requirement for pet owners in Great Britain to secure proper documentation before traveling to Northern Ireland.

Critics argue that this new rule highlights Northern Ireland's ongoing alignment with EU regulations following Brexit, which they believe creates a sense of inequality compared to the rest of the UK. This sentiment is particularly frustrating for the unionist community. While the necessary documentation will be free to obtain, it still requires pet owners to provide a statement confirming their intent not to travel to Ireland or any other EU country with their pets or assistance dogs.