Travelling to Brazil with your pet

Dogs and cats enter Brazil with the CVI, completed on the bilingual model of Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA), mandatory since 6 September 2025.

• In Italy your vet prepares it and the official ASL vet signs and stamps it: without the veterinary authority's signature it is not valid.
• It records the animal's identification, owner and destination details, rabies vaccination, parasite treatment and clinical examination.
• It is valid for 60 days from the date of issue, provided the rabies vaccination stays valid.

You keep the original: staff on arrival must not retain it.

MAPA lists as entry document the CVI or an official passport. Under the rules adopted by Brazil, a passport is acceptable only if it contains all the data required in the CVI (including recent parasite treatment and clinical examination) and is issued or endorsed by the veterinary authority of the country of origin.

The EU pet passport does not usually show all of this in the required format, so the safest choice is to travel with the CVI signed by the ASL and bring the passport as support: you will need it anyway to return to the EU.

All dogs and cats from 90 days of age must enter Brazil vaccinated against rabies, with a vaccine authorised in the country where it was given and still valid.

• If it is the first vaccination, departure is allowed only 21 days after it was given.
• If the booster was given after the previous vaccine expired, the animal counts as vaccinated for the first time and the same 21 days apply.

The CVI must show the vaccine's date, expiry, brand name, manufacturer and batch.

Puppies and kittens under 90 days can enter Brazil without a rabies vaccine if the veterinary authority certifies in the CVI:

• that the animal is under 90 days old at the date of issue;
• that it has had no contact with urban rabies cases in the last 90 days, based on the owner's declaration or official epidemiological data.

Mind the return: Italy and the EU do not accept unvaccinated animals and, from Brazil, also require an antibody titre test. Such a young animal could not come back for many months.

Within the 15 days before the CVI is issued the animal must receive a broad-spectrum treatment against internal and external parasites (for example a dewormer and a flea and tick product), using authorised products and following the manufacturer's instructions.

On the CVI the vet must record, separately for the internal and external treatment, the date, manufacturer, brand name and active ingredient. Keep the packaging or labels of the products: they will help you fill in the data without mistakes.

Within the 10 days before the CVI is issued an authorised vet must examine the animal and confirm that it shows no signs of infectious or parasitic disease and is fit to travel.

The examination date goes on the CVI. Plan it like this: parasite treatment and check-up at your vet, then the CVI signed at the ASL within a few days, and departure within the 60-day validity.

Brazil may refuse entry to animals diagnosed with leishmaniasis: if your dog is positive, check before you leave.

Brazilian rules do not impose a specific identification system, but if the animal has a microchip it must comply with ISO 11784/11785 and the CVI must show its number, implantation date and where on the body it is located.

If you leave from Italy your pet already has a microchip, and it is in any case mandatory to return to the EU: it must have been implanted before the rabies vaccine. Make sure the number is identical on the CVI, passport and titre test report.

The simplified rules apply only to dogs and cats. Ferrets, rabbits, chinchillas and similar animals also need a MAPA import authorisation, requested from the Federal Superintendency of Agriculture of the Brazilian state where the animal will live.

Birds and aquatic animals have even longer procedures, with quarantine before shipping; wild animals also need a licence from IBAMA.

Start the application well in advance and do not travel without the authorisation in hand.

Brazil is not on the EU list of low rabies-risk countries. To return to Italy the animal needs a rabies antibody titre test (at least 0.5 IU/ml, in an EU-approved laboratory, sample taken at least 30 days after vaccination).

• If you do it in Italy before leaving and record it in the passport, there is no wait on return and, with an always-valid rabies vaccination, the EU passport is enough.
• If you do it in Brazil, you must wait 3 months from the sample before returning and you need the EU animal health certificate.

Either way you must enter through a travellers' point of entry (for example Fiumicino or Malpensa) and report for checks.