Import laws?

[foto69man]

If you are living in another country, and are returning to the US and have a reptile that you bought in that country as a pet...what do you have to do to bring it back to the states?

All I can find is references to getting your Import/Export liscense...is all that necessary just to bring say a German bought Bearded Dragon back?

I tried the USDA-APHIS and the US FWS sites...but all I see is brids, fish, and being an importer...anyone have experience with this situation, or know where to look?

 

[varanio]

Youll have to get an importer license and provide cites clearance for the dragon. It is alot of money for just one dragon.

 

[Oddball]

If you've owned the animal for 30 days or more, take it to a vet for a health certificate examination. Then, it'll be considered to be a pet and can be brought to the US just as other household effects. The species must be legal to own in the US AND the state you're landing in upon re-entry to the US.

As a side note, you may be required to leave the animal with customs for the duration of a quarantine period. The length of quarantine can be from 10 to 30 days. Boarding fees may be charged to you for housing, feeding, and vet care for the animal.

Our dog was Q'd for 30 days when we returned from a 2 year stay in France. All because one of her shots was smudged and unreadable on her vet certificate of health.

 

[snakeguy101]

If you've owned the animal for 30 days or more, take it to a vet for a health certificate examination. Then, it'll be considered to be a pet and can be brought to the US just as other household effects. The species must be legal to own in the US AND the state you're landing in upon re-entry to the US.

As a side note, you may be required to leave the animal with customs for the duration of a quarantine period. The length of quarantine can be from 10 to 30 days. Boarding fees may be charged to you for housing, feeding, and vet care for the animal.

Our dog was Q'd for 30 days when we returned from a 2 year stay in France. All because one of her shots was smudged and unreadable on her vet certificate of health.

keep in mind that the people that will be taking care of your dragon usually have little to no knowledge on reptiles so you will want to provide a good care sheet if it comes to that. Good luck.

 

[Chris Anderson]

Wow, lots of incorrect information in this thread already. Having been in your situation multiple times (lived 9 years over seas in 3 countries with periods back in the US between each), I can provide my experiences. First, Bearded Dragons (Pogona sp.) are not CITES listed species and do not require CITES documents. Second, because you are not bringing him into the country for profit or resale, you do not need an import/export license, he is considered a pet. Third, there is no quarantine period. You will need to get a health certificate from a state vet, probably within 10 days of departure. You should check with the USDA about their health certificate requirements for bringing pets into the country and find out from the German authorities which vets meet their criteria. He will need to shipped by international regulations, which mandate the design of the shipping container. He will need to be shipped animal cargo on an airline and upon arrival will need to be cleared by USDA like any other pet you bring into the country. They probably won't know anything about them when you get here so you'll need to be able to tell them that it is a personal pet of a species not listed on CITES and provide them with copies of the health certificates.

Chris

 

[Oddball]

Don't see how my info is incorrect especially since it mirrors yours. And, I did post that my dog was forced into quarantine because one of her immunization stamps was unreadable.
For the departure, her crate had to have part of her paperwork attached to it. On top was the declaration as to when she was last fed and watered. Below that was a copy of her health certificate and our contact info along with contact info of someone already in the US in case we were held up during the trip.

 

[snakeguy101]

Wow, lots of incorrect information in this thread already. Having been in your situation multiple times (lived 9 years over seas in 3 countries with periods back in the US between each), I can provide my experiences. First, Bearded Dragons (Pogona sp.) are not CITES listed species and do not require CITES documents. Second, because you are not bringing him into the country for profit or resale, you do not need an import/export license, he is considered a pet. Third, there is no quarantine period. You will need to get a health certificate from a state vet, probably within 10 days of departure. You should check with the USDA about their health certificate requirements for bringing pets into the country and find out from the German authorities which vets meet their criteria. He will need to shipped by international regulations, which mandate the design of the shipping container. He will need to be shipped animal cargo on an airline and upon arrival will need to be cleared by USDA like any other pet you bring into the country. They probably won't know anything about them when you get here so you'll need to be able to tell them that it is a personal pet of a species not listed on CITES and provide them with copies of the health certificates.

Chris

USDA will only care about mammals. they dont bother with anything else so you should be more concerned with the Fish and wildlife folks since they are the ones that enforce the import laws.

 

[Chris Anderson]

Oddball - You'll notice I didn't single your post out as being incorrect, I simply said generally that there were a lot of incorrect information and pointed out that there was not a need to worry about the reptile experience of quarantine staff, at least as long as health certificates are in order. I recommend carrying your own sets of copies of all the paperwork in the event the originals that are attached to the containers get lost/damaged, which has happened to me multiple times.

Snakeguy - I always had both USDA and FWS checking my shipments since they included reptiles and mammals of CITES and non CITES species. The OP will need to contact FWS about the inspection requirements for a shipment of only a non CITES reptile species. There is a good chance he will have to fly in through a FWS designated port if FWS wants to inspect.

Chris

 

[snakeguy101]

Snakeguy - I always had both USDA and FWS checking my shipments since they included reptiles and mammals of CITES and non CITES species. The OP will need to contact FWS about the inspection requirements for a shipment of only a non CITES reptile species. There is a good chance he will have to fly in through a FWS designated port if FWS wants to inspect.

Chris

but you were telling the OP to check with USDA. All I was saying is that he does not need to do that because they do not deal with reptiles and the OP is only bringing back a bearded dragon.

 

[Chris Anderson]

but you were telling the OP to check with USDA. All I was saying is that he does not need to do that because they do not deal with reptiles and the OP is only bringing back a bearded dragon.

In my reply to you I was correcting myself and explaining why I had mentioned USDA in the first place. As I mentioned, the OP will need to contact FWS to find out if they will require an inspection of a non-CITES pet reptile import or not because if so, he will need to go through a designated port of entry.

Chris