We are moving to Switzerland (Zurich) from Israel next week with our cat (and two daughters :-)
We have followed the guidelines of the Swiss Federal veterinary office (FVO)( http://www.bvet.admin.ch/index.html?lang=en ) including the rabis vaccination, blood sample, and veterinary certificate, however, we somehow missed the fact that a permit from the FVO must be applied for at least three weeks before departure (we are only 8 days from departure now).
My question is: Does anyone know how crucial it is to have an FVO permit when we arrive to Zurich airport? (Once again, we do have all other permits.)
You really need to contact the BVet, preferably in writing, to get an answer. While there have been some anectdotes of rather lax inspection upon entry (largely from EU countries) posted here, you don't want to run any unnecessary risks.
From the BVet:
"If the animals do not meet the entry requirements, they will be confiscated by the Border Veterinary Service and must be returned immediately to their country of origin at the expense of the person bringing the animals into the country. If a return is not possible within 10 days, the animals must be put down."
Only the BVet can advise you with any authority.
Best wishes to you and your family as you settle into your life in Switzerland.
Are BVet and FVO (Federal veterinary office) the same authority?
I e-mailed FVO with an entry permit application for our cat; I really hope that my application will be granted although there are only 8 days left until our departure (and not 3 weeks like they demand).
Yes, it's the same office (BVet is FVO auf Deutsch).
Given your time frame, do call first thing Monday AM to follow up - whilst I have always had good experiences with the BVet, they are not always the swiftest correspondents.
Do you have an alternative plan in case your cat cannot enter prior to the three weeks? (Because the Swiss are in general not so fond of bending rules ...) Is there someone who can care for your cat in the interim?
When I brought my cat from Turkey, I could have just smuggled him like that because no-one asked anything. Wanting to do the right thing, I went to the customs declaration with the papers and I was given a huge scare when the officer said I was not allowed to bring the cat in!!!. It turned out I had forgotten to show the permit I received from Bern in response to my letter (can't remember if it was FVO) and when I showed it they said OK, charged me 88 CHF and let me go (They didn't check the microchip or anything like that) So I'd say be very careful if you don't want any surprises.
The FVO (which, I now realize, are the same agency as BVeT --- their website's url is actually http://www.bvet.admin.ch/ ) replied to my e-mail within less than 24 hours, granting our cat the desired entry permit!!! (I guess that this is what you'll find in the dictionary under Swiss efficiency :-)
Hats off for the FVO guys.
So, happy end (well, assuming that everything goes well in the airport) for our story.
When I brought our little guy this past summer the customs guys were all over him with the wand checking for the microchip. Because he is tattooed we were informed by the FVO (Federal veterinary office) that he was allowed in for this year without the microchip. Regulations are changing in 2011. We showed the customs officer the email and they backed down immediately. Best to take all documents from the FVO with you.
I had the same experience withthe FVO, they are stelar in the customer service department, even answered me in English.
It is a relief indeed. It would have been awful if her entry to Switzerland was denied at this late stage after she already suffered the microchip, rabies vaccination, and blood test.
Yes, we will not take any risk in that front: all relevant documents will be ready for presentation at the airport.
Can you give me a rough estimation as for how long the whole FVO inspection takes in the airport? I really hope that this will not take long since we are flying with our 4 months old twin daughters (as you can imagine, the cat related issues are not necessarily the most complicated ones we face regarding this relocation) and I guess that we will be dying to get to our apartment.
I flew into Geneva from Portugal with two cats. Both were up-to-date with all the necessary vaccinations, rabies vaccinated, are microchipped and each have vet cards (not pet passports). I was panicking as I landed because even though I'd done all the necessary background work on what paperwork was necessary, I couldn't help thinking of what if I was missing an important document. On my arrival, the 'anything to declare' desks were un-manned and also, as 'Kedi' mentioned, wanting to do the right thing I approached airport staff to ask them if they could put someone at customs to check my cats. To add to the panick, one of the cats doesn't travel well and I'd given her a travel pill. To say she looked 'high' was an understatement. I thought it would cause problems. Alas, after two members of staff checking the vet cards, I was given the all-clear. I asked if they wanted me to take the cats out of their travel boxes for a physical check but apparently it wasn't necessary!
Good luck with your entry into Switzerland. I empathise with how stressful it can be to travel with pets. I wonder what they'd say to us if they could speak!
I realize that you may prefer '33foxglove' to answer the question, as it seems she had a more thorough inspection at customs than I did.
The time it takes I think would depend on how strict customs are. I previously flew out of Heathrow, London (and then Lisbon airport, changed at Porto airport finally coming into Geneva). The checks at London and Lisbon took the longest as they were very thorough, thirty minutes (I was asked to go into a room with them, the travel boxes were dismantled, the wand run over the cats time and again and their bedding taken apart! At Lisbon they were even scanned!) At Geneva, the time it took for the cards to be checked, it was less than ten minutes.
Formalities were fairly simple, though - he flew with Swiss, who unlike BA don't only do animal exports as cargo, which meant I just had to check in early and pay a fee (animals are excess baggage even if you don't check in anything else). Dropped him at the out-of-gauge window as instructed no earlier than an hour before departure, waited a long and harrowing time at ZRH for him to appear on a trolley as animals have to handled manually rather than via the automated baggage delivery system.
Customs guy was mostly interested in whether he had any financial value (don't tell him, but no), then took a look at the pet passport before stamping a random page and declaring that "isch guet".
Well, we all arrived safely to our Zurich apartment (2 parents, 2 babies, and a cat).
It's funny how the part we were most scared of, i.e., the Zurich airport part, turned out to be the easiest one: We went through the red "goods to declare" lane (I doubt it if they would have noticed that we are traveling with a cat otherwise), were asked to present the FVO permit (apparently, this is the only document one needs), Shirley's microchip was read to verify a cat-permit match, paid 88 CHF, and we were free to go. The whole process lasted less than 5 minutes.
In contrast, we did have some unexpected difficulties in Tel Aviv airport (from which we took-off): First, we found out that Swiss (the airline) requires that cats will be carried in a soft cage (when traveling with us in the passengers cabin), so we were forced to buy one (US$40) and transfer Shirley from her old cage to the new one. Then, security demanded that we put the soft cage through the x-ray machine (although it was bought in the airport 10 minutes beforehand). We refused to put Shirley herself in the x-ray machine, so they suggested that we take her to a quiet room nearby where I held her in my arms while the security guys scanned her cage.
I don't want to imagine how she felt throughout this journey. But I'm happy to see that less than 24 hours have passed since our arrival and she is already getting used to her new home (spent the night in our bed; walking on my keyboard while I'm trying to write this post :-)