Expats who wish to bring their pets along to Kerala have reasons to cheer as the Centre has extended the permission granted to the Cochin airport to import pet animals. Pets can be brought into the country only through designated airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad where animal quarantine facility is available. On an experimental basis, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying had given the Cochin airport permission to import pet animals till September 30, 2021 under the Livestock Importation Act, 1898. The permission has now been extended to June 30, 2022.
When the initial permission was granted, no one could make use of the facility due to the restrictions enforced for air travel following the COVID-19 outbreak. The latest notification issued by the Centre states that the pet dog or pet cat as permitted under the applicable baggage rules shall be allowed to be imported through the Cochin airport till June 30.
Conditions
A.C.K. Nair, Director, CIAL, told The Hindu that the passenger has to fulfil a set of conditions and follow the standard operating procedure fixed by the Centre such as obtaining veterinary health certificate from the country of export. The passenger should apply for advance NOC from AQCS (animal quarantine and certification services) prior to the journey, said Mr. Nair. The passenger should also obtain an import licence from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in case the pet is being brought for a short stay.
Airlines will not transport live animals until the passenger procures advance NOC from AQCS. On arrival, Customs officers will allow clearance based only on the final NOC, provided by AQCS after examining the pets/live animals, and upon production of DGFT licence.
Case of deportation
In 2018, the Customs in CIAL had deported a pet after it was brought here without fulfilling the mandatory requirements. A senior Customs officer said there were a lot of queries for importing pets through the airport. The officials used to direct them to the Chennai airport. Now, they can approach the airline authorities with relevant documents, said the officer.
