Who does what in France when your dog or cat travels: vet, DDPP, DGAL, customs and I-CAD

Who to contact, and for what

The authorised vet: nearly everything starts and ends there

EU law reserves certain acts for official veterinarians or vets authorised by the competent authority: issuing the EU pet passport, recording the rabies vaccination in it, drawing blood for the titre test, certifying the tapeworm treatment. In France that role falls to the practising vet who holds the state's authorisation, known as the vétérinaire sanitaire; in practice, your own vet. A French text that predates the 2026 framework named that vet expressly; we found no more recent one, and most practices issue passports: ask when you book.

• Leaving France: the vet implants or reads the chip, vaccinates, fills in the passport, takes the blood sample for the titre test when the destination requires one, carries out the final clinical examination and completes the destination country's certificate. The Paris DDPP advises seeing the vet three to six months before the trip, as some tests take time.
• Arriving in France: the vet registers the animal in the national identification file within 7 days, copies the passport or certificate details, issues the provisional identification certificate and reports any anomaly to the DDPP.
• What the vet does not do: endorse the export certificate when the destination requires an official signature, or check anything at the border.

The order of the acts matters as much as their content: the chip must come before the vaccine for the vaccine to count, and the titre sample can only be taken 30 days or more after the primary vaccination. The full timeline is in our article on the rabies vaccine and titre test.

The DDPP: the official endorsement of the export certificate

In each département the state veterinary services belong to the departmental directorate for the protection of the population (DDPP) or, where services were merged, to the directorate for employment, labour, solidarity and protection of the population (DDETSPP). For a trip outside the EU this is where the export certificate is endorsed when the destination requires an official vet's signature: the authorised vet prepares and fills in the certificate, the DDPP's official vet checks it and signs or stamps it. The 2026 EU rules do not govern this certificate; the destination country sets its own model and conditions.

The competent directorate is the one for the département where the animal lives. In Paris the DDPP only receives you on an online appointment request, to be filed at least 15 days before departure with proof of address; animals living elsewhere in the Paris region use another form, and outside the region the DD(ETS)PP of the département. Outside Paris neither lead times nor any fees are published: we ask the directorate concerned for each file.

The DDPP also steps in after an arrival. When the vet registering an animal with I-CAD finds an anomaly (an invalid vaccine, a missing certificate, inconsistent dates), it goes to the DDPP, which may place the animal under surveillance by prefectoral order; the permanent identification card is then issued only once that period ends. The DDPP is also the authority that approves professional live-animal transporters, a matter for service providers rather than travelling owners. The full departure-side steps are described in leaving France with a dog or cat.

The DGAL and Expadon 2: the rules and the models

The Directorate General for Food (DGAL) at the Ministry of Agriculture writes and explains the rules; it has no counter for travellers. Three of its publications are directly useful when preparing a trip:

• The information note on the non-commercial import of pets, updated in June 2026, which sets out the entry conditions from non-EU countries under the 2026 framework (identification, vaccine, titre test, certificate valid 10 days then 6 months, customs check). It is the most current French source; several older ministry pages still cite the 2013 regulations.
• The list of laboratories approved for the rabies titre test (version 17 of 20 November 2025): Anses, rabies and wildlife laboratory in Nancy; the departmental laboratory 31 in Launaguet; INOVALYS in Le Mans. A titre test done anywhere else in France is not admissible.
• The page on category dogs, which restates the ban on category 1 dogs and the entry conditions for category 2 dogs.

Expadon 2 is France's export certification system, run by the ministry and FranceAgriMer. The old Exp@don site has been closed since 30 December 2025. Its "Information and Communication" portal is public: the advanced search gives access, without an account, to export certificate models by country. Online certification is announced as coming soon for live animals: for a dog or cat, the portal today serves to read the models and the destination's requirements, not to file an application. It is the first thing to consult, even before the vet appointment, because that model is what says which tests and which signatures the country expects.

Customs and the SIVEP: the check on arrival

On arrival in France from a non-EU country, pets are checked by customs, not by the veterinary services. The DGAL note states that the customs services are responsible for the documentary and identity checks on pets at points open to international passenger traffic, and customs themselves write that you must declare and present your pets to customs officers. Three practical points:

• No appointment. Travellers go through the customs filter, in other words in front of the customs desk, before leaving the international zone. The health certificate is stamped there.
• A travellers' point of entry. The animal must arrive through a designated point; for France the Commission refers to the list of border crossing points (international airports, major ports, a few railway stations). Animals from an Annex I country (Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco and others) are not subject to the systematic check but must still meet the health conditions.
• What the check can lead to. If everything is in order, the animal leaves with you. If not, after consulting the official vet, the authority may isolate it until it complies, send it back or, as a last resort, order its euthanasia, at the owner's expense. The DGAL cites articles L236-9 and L236-10 of the French rural code.

Customs only handle the travellers' regime: a movement without sale or transfer of ownership, five animals at most per person, documents present, owner present or travelling within 5 days (with proof). Beyond that the movement is commercial and belongs to the SIVEP, the veterinary and phytosanitary border inspection service: inspection at a border control post designated for the species, a certificate on the model set by Regulation 2021/403 and a common health entry document (CHED-A) issued in TRACES. Customs warn that not every border control post is approved for dogs and cats, and that an animal presented at a non-designated post is sent back. The entry conditions in full are in bringing a dog or cat into France.

I-CAD, the DREAL and the town hall: after arrival

I-CAD: registration within 7 days

I-CAD runs the national identification file for dogs, cats and ferrets. The order of 9 November 2023 requires any animal brought into France for a stay of three months or more, whether from a non-EU country or another Member State, to be registered within seven days. The procedure goes through the vet, who assembles the file; a foreign chip is kept if an ISO 11785 reader can read it, otherwise the animal is re-identified. I-CAD announced a change to its fees on 1 July 2026; we publish no amount. I-CAD's website says 8 days; the order says 7, so count 7.

The DREAL: hybrid cats and wolf-dogs

For customs and the DGAL, a Bengal or a Savannah is a pet cat only if it is registered in the French feline pedigree book (LOOF) or a recognised equivalent. Without a pedigree or birth certificate shown at import, the animal is treated as a hybrid, and its entry requires an import permit issued beforehand by the regional environment directorate (DREAL). The same applies to wolf-dogs. The file is prepared well before the flight; see bringing a cat to France.

The town hall: the keeping permit for a category dog

A category 2 dog admitted into France (a pedigree American Staffordshire terrier, Rottweiler or Tosa, or a Rottweiler-type dog) may only be kept with a permis de détention issued by the mayor of the commune of residence, or by the police prefecture in Paris. The permit requires identification, a valid rabies vaccination (compulsory for these dogs even in a rabies-free département, and certified through the passport), civil liability insurance, a certificate of aptitude obtained after a 7-hour course and a behavioural assessment by a vet on a departmental list, between 8 months and 1 year of age. A provisional permit covers a dog too young for the assessment. Category 1 dogs cannot enter France at all. See bringing a dog to France.

Who steps in when: the two timelines

Leaving France for a non-EU country

1. Six to three months before: read the destination's certificate model and requirements (Expadon 2, the country's authority); first appointment with the authorised vet: chip, vaccine, blood sample for the titre test if the country requires it, sent to one of the three approved laboratories.
2. The weeks before: treatments and tests the country asks for; the vet fills in the destination certificate.
3. The days before: endorsement of the certificate by the DDPP or DDETSPP of the département, if the country requires an official signature (in Paris, appointment requested at least 15 days ahead). Many countries count the certificate's validity from that signature.
4. Departure day: the airline checks the documents at check-in; French customs play no health-control role at departure for a pet.

Arriving in France from a non-EU country

1. Before departure: the DGAL's rules to meet; certificate issued by the departure country's official vet within 10 days; DREAL permit obtained beforehand for a hybrid cat without a pedigree.
2. On arrival: present the animal to customs at the point of entry, documentary and identity check, certificate stamp; SIVEP for a commercial movement.
3. Within 7 days: I-CAD registration by the vet, for a stay of three months or more; any anomaly goes to the DDPP.
4. In the following months: keeping permit at the town hall for a category 2 dog, after training and the behavioural assessment.

For the documents themselves, who issues them and how long they stay valid, see pet travel documents.

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