And here’s Joseph Tsai’s number: 0910 136 016
Anyone know about taking cats from Taiwan into China? What needs to be done?
[quote=“iris”]Edit:
Taiwan is on the list, updated on 15 March 2005 (I checked mid of February). Updated list of countries here[/quote]
Here is the mother load, Regulation (EC) 998/2003, updated March 15, 2005, listing exactly which microchip norm is required for non-commercial import into a member state of the EU (see. Art. 4, 1., b)) as well as the list Iris already linked above (see Annex II).
Unfortunately, according to our vet, all his research seems to indicate that chips conforming to these norms are not available in TW … let’s hope we’ll meet with the same relaxed attitude as Iris apparently has when going through customs … :s
Xpet, I have found a vet in Muzha who has managed to find four such chips for my guys. It wasn’t easy! If you want, I can ask him to get one more for you (just the dog, right?).
The ISO chip has 16 digits as opposed to 10 digits on the non-ISO ones.
I’m getting my dogs chipped tonight or tomorrow - I’ll ask for you.
Sean
Sean, great! Our vet has tried many a time (or so he says …) without success, if yours can get them we’d have no qualms taking him to another vet for the “chipping”, thanks!! I’ll PM you!
yes well I learnt the hard way that when a Vet says a chip is ISO it doesn’t mean it is, so it pays to know yourself.
I thought the idea was to get the chip ASAP before any shots, but obviously you guys are not in that situation so why does the info I have read suggest the chip should happen before the shots?
I guess you are referring to the rabies shots? It’s probably because ours already has had his first rabies shot about 8 months ago, meaning he just needs a “refresher” shot (rabies vaccination should not be older than 6 months or younger than 30 days (EU regulation “2005/91/EC” (found in EU Official Journal L031, published 04/02/2005, p. 0061, or here) says not younger than 21 days, actually …). Not sure whether that’s the answer??
but what relevance does the chip have to vaccinations, as long as the chip is inserted prior to travel, and you have documentation outlining the previous shots? Does the chip database list the shots also or something? If so, then how can Adult dogs be chipped - do they need all the shots again once chipped?
genuine questions.
I agree, valid, yet unanswered questions … I have no idea. I doubt whether the chip bears any information other than the ID number for the respective animal, and I also don’t see every vet having a device with which to actually write information onto the chip. Readers, yes, writers, don’t think so … I believe the “sequence of events” is probably irrelevant at the end of the day, just as the whole practice sometimes seems to be inconsistent with what the laws actually say, it seems a bit arbitrary at times, looking e.g. at Iris’ experience with regard to the blood test …
I spoke, in person, to veterinary officials in Bavaria (southern federal state in Germany for the uninitiated …) just last month and they had no idea that Taiwan’s status had changed earlier in the year, nor where they able to properly explain their own regulations to me … What’s more, their offices are located in large slaughter house complex that smelled of raw meat, not too appealing an environment for somebody looking to bring their beloved pet into the country … 
What country are you heading to?
Nowhere in the near future, but eventually most likely NZ, and the NZ govt specifies ISO chips. BUT, we have no fixed plans so it could be another country.
Stray Dog has been very helpful with this and I now have a second identical AVID chip which I can send to NZ soon to get customs to check to see if they can read it, and if not we can make alternative arrangements (i.e. take a reader of our own)
Personally, I am amazed that in 2005 there are so many different standards out there. I guess, the whole point of ISO (international standards organization) is to rectify this, but unfortunately it is a too little too late as some industries are VERY strong in one particular chip (the horse racing industry is huge on AVID chips for example, and that is why we might be ok having an AVID chip in our dog). Also some countries seem to be slow in getting onto ISO.
Unfortunately it is all about money, so having the readers only read one or two chip types is one of the critical factors and it is not in the chip manufacturer’s interest to make a reader that reads other chips. My entrepreneurial side is pondering this opportunity
Yes my understanding is that the chip holds no info other than a number, but I believe the chip number is put into a govt database along with the owner’s info.
Basically, when travelling,if the reader IDs the dog at the border and this number correlates to the Pet Passport chip sticker, then that is the main objective of the chip, and to that extent it doesn’t REALLY matter what chip type is used. BUT, as mentioned about, customs don’t want to have 5 or 10 readers on hand to try on each animal, so the ISO standard is being pushed.
The fact that Stray dog has had to hunt high and low to find ISO chips in Taiwan is pretty disturbing, and I hope that once AnimalsTaiwan is fully established that the organization itself can be proactive in distributing ISO chips here. I personally believe that this, along with the spay and neutering program are just a couple of areas that will help get Taiwan established as more responsible towards pet management.
Even tho Taiwan is rabies free, unfortunately NZ does not recognize this, so our dog will be looking at a 1 month quarantine in NZ…so my next mission is to start writing letters highlighting to NZ that Taiwan CAN now go on the list of acceptable countries for unrestricted entry. I can imagine that the amount of dogs going to NZ from Taiwan would be ridiculously low, so even if they are aware, they probably are not concerned enough to update the legislation - so that
I’d like to pick up the thread and continue with the StrayDog praise truant began in his last post … Stray Dog is the only one able to dig up ISO standard 16-digit pet-chips in Taiwan, and he hand-delivers too!! 
Thanks Sean for offering your help and for coming through with it too, our pooch now has the chip implanted, our vet was absolutely flabberghasted when I turned up with my own chip, and a EU standard one to boot! If you don’t mind, I’d like to share the source of the chip (your vet …) with my vet, maybe they can educate each-other so that the knowledge spreads a little, thanks!
As promised, I’ll give you a full report after we have sucessfully exported our dog to Europe. One (to me new) aspect I learned today is that, according to my vet, you have to produce your flight ticket at the exit health check that is performed during the last 7 days prior to departure by an “official” veterinarian, might be a useful bit of knowledge if it’s true, I guess we’ll find out …
Thanks again, I owe you more than the NT$ 300,- for the chip!! Xpet.
I have been looking at the gov page for Canada and there is nothing about needing a chip in your dog. Anybody hear differently, or are we actually that easy to bring dogs back to?
I wonder, is it a stupid idea to consider removal of the current chip and insertion of an ISO?
I will happily share my source, but I can’t find his card. I’ll have to get the details from him tomorrow evening.
And I’m happy to help, really! Especially for those of you who support us so much.
I’ll post the info tomorrow evening.
For all those Germans out there:
I made another panic call to the Frankfurt airport about the date of the health certificate (7 days? 10 days?). The lady was as friendly as ever, asked for my number, said she’d enquire and call back and DID call back. She said not older than 4 months! and that if I was on the same plane as Tuesday, there was no reason to worry at all.
Up to now, the staff in Frankurt has been very helpful, professional and friendly (unlike the staff at Munich according to what Xpet said), probably due to their experience as a big airport. Looks like going through Frankfurt is a better choice than going through a smaller airport.
I’ll be back with updates.
Iris
Went to the vet and Customs for Tuesday’s documents today.
-
Vet
Dr. Yang checked her, filled in the documents, (wrongly) stamped the document that I need for entering Germany, asked for 1000nt and let us go.
Sidenote: When I asked Dr. Yang about the Bureau of Commodity Inspection and Quarantine, he looked confused and said, no, all I had to do was to go directly to the airport. He obviously isn’t aware that you need those documents for leaving the country. Good thing I didn’t believe him :s
-
Bureau of Commodity Inspection and Quarantine
Their address is not Jilong Road but Roosevelt Road, the rest was correct:
Roosevelt Road Sec. 4 Lane 113 No. 19 (that’s one of two lanes on the northeast corner of the circle)
Phone: 27387935 (there is somebody who speaks English)
Office hours: monday to friday, 8.30am to 5pm
They were veeeeeeeeeeeeery helpful even though Dr. Yang had made a couple of mistakes in the documents he filled in. They even searched for and printed out the German document from the internet again because they said they had to fill it in and stamp it themselves (not Dr. Yang, and he had stamped the wrong place anyway).
They didn’t bother about the brown/red problem that Alien had a year ago, basically checked her sex and chip number and all in all seemed very nice.
They handed me all the documents (1 copy of the health certificate from Dr. Yang, the German veterinary certificate and their own veterinary certificate) and told me that before I check her in, she’ll have to be rechecked at the Quarantine Office at the airport, phone number 03-3982264 (Terminal 1) resp. 03-3983373 (Terminal 2). I’ll call them on monday to ask when I have to be there because my flight is at 11.10pm on a Sunday night.
HTH
Iris
My vet in Muzha - the one who got the ISO chips:
Chin-Yue Hsiao, BVM DVM MVM
Muzha
Xinglong Rd, Sec. 4
No. 159-1
(02) 2937 4998
He speaks English and is also a very good vet. He has regularly cured problems with my pets that other vets couldn’t. His prices are more than reasonable, too.
He did have a lot of trouble getting the chips, but if you ask him, he will try and get some more.
He also enlightened me as to why we have this problem here: In 1999, Europe decided it would use only ISO chips. That meant that all the other chips would now be unusable - and therefore very cheap. Retired Taiwanese army officers bought them as an investment, and they became the standard chips for Taiwan, backed by the government of course. There is still a huge stockpile to get rid of, so you won’t see the ISOs being easily available any time soon.
Anyway, I’m happy to pick the chips up from Dr. Hsiao for you should you not be able to get down to Muzha.
Cheers,
Sean
Guess what: They didn’t even check her (non-ISO) chip when we got to Germany. Might have been the rank smell emanating from the cage of the poor thing after being on the road for almost 24 hours :raspberry: The guy barely glanced at the documents, commented the chip stickers with: “So she does have a chip?”, checked the name and details of the rabies vaccine and let us through with: “You’ll take her to a vet soon, anyway, won’t you?”. 
Xpet, that was Leipzig, not Frankfurt. China Airlines told me that I couldn’t check the luggage through to Leipzig and only check the cat in to Frankfurt, so she got checked through. And as China Airlines wouldn’t know about taking her documents with the cage, staff in Frankfurt obviously didn’t bother to look at her (didn’t even fill up her water bottle :s).
I of course spent most of those 24 hours panicking about my baby down there in the dark and bugging everybody in reach about adjusting the heat in the cargo compartment and making sure she had safely gotten on/off board 
Getting off in Frankfurt with horror visions of a dehydrated or heart-failured cat, I asked a lady from ground staff on how to proceed, and she got in touch with the cargo guys and asked if they knew about a cat on plane. He answered back that he had heard meows, so at least I knew she was alright. I hadn’t sedated her because most “travel with pets” websites and my own vet advised against it.
She’s doing very well 
HTH
Iris
Step 1 (several months before you leave)
- figure out the procedure for importing the pet to your specific destination
- get the info from the respective local rep office, the airport at your destination or the ministry responsible for animal/veterinary things in the country of your destination
- rules can change quickly! It might make sense to recheck a couple of times while going through the process
- mind the required time range for each single procedure
- lots of detailed info on exporting pets to the US, UK and Germany in this thread. Make sure to thoroughly read all the posts and the links for your destination
Step 2
- if you’re not able to deal with all the necessary steps yourself, get in touch with Josepf Tsai, cell phone 0910 136 016 or any other pet shipper mentioned in this thread
Step 3 (approx. within 6 months before leaving)
- you most certainly need a rabies vaccination and an ISO chip
- most documents state that the chipping needs to be done before the rabies vaccination (nobody seemed to care in my case)
- for most countries, rabies vaccinations must not be older than 6 months unless they’re refresher shots and not younger than something like 1-2 months (depending on the country)
- THE place to get ISO chips:
[quote=“straydog”]My vet in Muzha - the one who got the ISO chips:
Chin-Yue Hsiao, BVM DVM MVM
Muzha
Xinglong Rd, Sec. 4
No. 159-1
(02) 2937 4998 [/quote]
Step 4
- if you need anything else like a blood test or additional shots, make sure to get them within the required range of time
Step 5
- make sure to mention that you’ll be taking a pet when you book your flight
- info the airline will need is the size of the box and the weight of pet + box
- extra cost seems to depend on the mood of check-in staff. You might actually get in your pet for free (I sort of did. But I had to pay for 16kg of my 28kg of excess luggage including cat)
Step 6 (10 days before leaving)
- get the health certificate from a vet who is approved by the Bureau of Commodity Inspection and Quarantine
- all you need from the vet is the Taiwanese health certificate. The vet is not responsible for filling in the veterinary certificate for your destination
- don’t believe your vet if he tells you that all you need after that to is turn up at check-in
Step 7 (within 10 days before leaving)
- Take your pet to the Bureau of Commodity Inspection and Quarantine
[quote]Roosevelt Road Sec. 4 Lane 113 No. 19 (that’s one of two lanes on the northeast corner of the circle)
Phone: 27387935 (there is somebody who speaks English)
Office hours: monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm[/quote]
- bring: your pet, health certificate, passport, plane ticket, the veterinary certificate for your destination
- they’ll check the animal and chip, fill in their own veterinary certificate and stamp the veterinary certificate for your destination country
Step 8 (before leaving home)
- don’t feed the pet for the last couple of hours before leaving
- most airline sites and vets advise not to sedate the pet and that pets should be fine enough if they’re undisturbed in a dark space like cargo
Step 9 (about half an hour before check-in)
- Take your pet and the documents to Terminal 1: Room BO 248 (on the side where the airport buses arrive, around the corner from the smoking room next to the departure entrances, phone 03-3982264) or Terminal 2: Room 1106 in the South area of the arrival lobby (phone 03-3983373)
- If you’re after office hours, call the number on the door (03-3982268 for Terminal 1), tell them that you’re there and wait for about 10 minutes until somebody turns up to check your pet (takes about another 10 minutes)
Step 10
- Check in and have a nice flight
- Don’t panic as much as I did. But if it makes you feel better, tell the flight attendants that your pet is on board to make sure that they’ll adjust the temperature in cargo
All in all, China Airlines as well as German customs seemed to care very little about documents and requirements when I took my cat. Quote Frankfurt airport: “Will she be on the same flight? Then there’s nothing to worry about.” German customs hardly glanced at the documents and just wanted to know if she had her rabies shot. No bother with the (Non-ISO) chip, no bother with the fact that she got chipped AFTER she had her rabies shot, no bother with the fact that her rabies shot was older than 6 months (and no refresher shot). Maybe they trust that if you go through the hassle of taking your pet, you do everything by the rules. Or maybe I was just lucky
HTH
Iris (the list-addict )
Great post, Iris!
Most of your post is relevent for anybody exporting a pet from Taiwan. Mind if we steal some of it for AnimalsTaiwan’s web site?
Many, many thanks! :bravo: 
Sean