Importing poultry from countries outside the EU

What counts as poultry

Poultry are birds that have been raised or confined for breeding, meat or egg production or for stocking. You may also keep birds, for example, to participate in shows and competitions or for raising and sale. They are then called captive birds.

Eggs for hatching are fertilised eggs intended for hatching.

General rules for bringing poultry and hatching eggs into Sweden

There are general rules that apply regardless of the country from which you intend to bring in poultry and hatching eggs. There are also special rules for when you intend to bring in poultry and hatching eggs from an EU Member State or from countries outside the EU.

According to the general rules, you must

• register the establishment
• register as a transporter
  
• register as an importer
• obtain a health certificate
• plan the transport carefully.

You need to read both the general rules and what applies for the various countries.

Register the establishment

If poultry or breeding material is to be received at your establishment from countries outside the EU, it is important that your establishment is registered at least 4 weeks before the animal or breeding material is received.

This is because the Swedish Board of Agriculture must enter the information about the establishment in the EU-wide computer system Traces, which is used in connection with the transport of animals.

• E-service: The establishment register – places with animals – in Swedish
  

Register as a transporter

If you are transporting poultry between countries, you must register as a transporter. Registration of transporters is not the same as a permit for transports for business purposes. You register as a transporter using our e-service.

• E-service: Register transporter – move animals between countries – in Swedish

You must also be registered to bring in animals

In order for you to be permitted to bring in poultry and hatching eggs to Sweden from other countries, you must be registered for import at the Swedish Board of Agriculture. You must register in our e-service at least 30 days before the expected date of the first occasion of import.

Registration is valid for 2 years from the date on which you were registered.

• E-service: Import registration – in Swedish

There must be a health certificate

When you bring in poultry and hatching eggs, you must have a health certificate showing that they are healthy. This is available in the EU’s common trading database Traces. The animal owner in the dispatching country shall contact an official veterinarian in good time who will issue the health certificate. In this way, the movement will be registered and controlled. The health certificate signed by the veterinarian shows that the animals have been approved in compliance with the applicable health requirements.

The certificate is valid for 10 days from and including the date of issue.

You do not need a health certificate, when you bring in racing pigeons for sporting events from another EU Member State. Read more about this further down on this page.

The animal owner is responsible for not bringing infection diseases into Sweden

You as the animal owner bear the responsibility of not bringing infection disease for poultry into Sweden. The purchaser and the seller are both responsible for obtaining the relevant information and documentation.

As animal owner or a participant in trade in another way, you are responsible for knowing the applicable requirements and sampling when trading with animals.

Please not that the risk of bringing in infectious disease decreases if you bring in hatching eggs instead of live animals.

Plan the transport carefully

Please note that there may be areas with restrictions due to infectious animal diseases. There may then be special rules for transport in such an area. It is therefore important that you look up whether there are restrictions in place on where your animals are located or where they are to be transported to.

Bring in poultry and hatching eggs from countries outside the EU

When you are intending to bring in poultry and hatching eggs from countries, there are a number of rules that apply in addition to the general rules at the top of this page.

You may only bring in poultry and hatching eggs from certain countries outside the EU

The import of poultry and hatching eggs is only permitted from certain countries outside the EU. Please contact us via e-mail to find out from which countries you are allowed to bring in poultry and hatching eggs, and to find out more about the requirements for your particular category of poultry.

• forflyttning.sparning@jordbruksverket.se

Bring in the animals and the hatching eggs via an approved border control station

Animals from approved countries outside the EU, except for Norway, Andorra, the Faroe Islands and Switzerland, may only be brought in via an approved border control station.

When you bring in animals, you must notify the border control veterinarian at least one working day in advance of arrival to the border control post. You must also report the animals to the border control post in the Trace system via a CHED (Common Health Entry Document). The person who creates the CHED can be a private person, a company importing the animals, or a company in charge of organisation of shipping.

There is currently no border control station in Sweden that is approved to receive cattle. Therefore, you must bring the animals in via an approved border control station in another country. The transport will then be handled as an import from another EU country.

If the import takes place via another EU country, it must be reported to the border control post where the animals enter the EU.

When the animals cross the border into Sweden, you must report the entry to customs.

• Import and border controls of animals, animal products and feed

When the animals pass the border into Sweden, you must register the import with the Swedish Customs.

The import of poultry and hatching eggs to the EU may become banned

If there is an outbreak of serious infection or there is a risk that prohibited substances will accompany products from countries outside the EU, the EU can quickly decide on protective measures. In this event, the import of poultry and hatching eggs into the EU would be banned.