Here's what I wish someone had told me about Taiwan: it writes its own pet-import rules, and the rules of mainland China do not apply. Cooper has done cargo three times, and Taiwan is the kind of destination where the paperwork is the trip — an import permit applied for in advance, a rabies titre with a long wait behind it, and a quarantine period on arrival that depends on where you flew from.

Pet import to Taiwan is regulated by APHIA (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency), Ministry of Agriculture. The core requirements are summarized below: a microchip, a rabies vaccine within the right window, and a government-endorsed health certificate. Some destinations also require a titer test or short quarantine — those are flagged in the table.

Who sets the rules here

Taiwan sets its own pet-import rules. The national rules of China do not apply here.

Official source
aphia.gov.tw
Relationship to China
sets its own rules

How Taiwan handles your pet

Key points

  • Taiwan's pet import rules were rewritten in the February 2024 revision of the "Quarantine Requirements for the Importation of Dogs and Cats", and the agency that administers them, BAPHIQ, was renamed APHIA in 2023
  • Both matter when you are reading advice online: a page telling you to draw blood 180 days before travel, that the titer result is good for two years, or that a pet can be held for 180 days is quoting a 2005 press release
  • The current rules are a 90-day-to-one-year blood sampling window, a 7-day post-entry quarantine for a pet from a country Taiwan does not recognise as rabies-free, and an application filed at least 20 days ahead
  • Taiwan requires the rabies vaccination to have been given when the dog or cat was at least 90 days old
  • Our minimum-age field is in whole weeks and so reads 13, which is the smallest number of weeks that always satisfies it; the published rule is 90 days, so work from the date, not from the week count
  • One timing trap catches owners of three-year vaccines
  • If your pet's vaccine is still valid on the day it flies but expires during the 7-day quarantine, Taiwan will give it a booster inside the quarantine facility and bill you for it
  • Money: there is no fee to apply for the import permit, but on arrival you pay a computer processing fee of NT$100 in cash, plus the transport fee to the quarantine facility if your pet needs one, plus on-site inspection and any overtime fees
  • The quarantine facility's own charges depend on which facility you are assigned and are settled with them before the quarantine ends, so there is no single total we can publish
  • Bring cash in New Taiwan dollars
  • Breed rules sit outside the quarantine regime and catch two groups
  • The American Pit Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull and American Staffordshire Terrier are prohibited from being kept or imported at all, under the Animal Protection Act rather than the quarantine conditions
  • And a Bengal cat, which Taiwan calls the leopard cat, may only be imported if the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency recognises it as a 5th-generation (F5) hybrid or above; below that it is treated as protected wildlife, not a pet
  • Two more things worth knowing before you book
  • A pet coming from mainland China needs a separate permit from the International Trade Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and only residents may bring one in at all
  • And your vet may draw the blood sample, but the antibody test itself has to be run by a WOAH reference laboratory or one APHIA has designated — a result from an ordinary commercial lab will not be accepted, and routing the sample through an intermediate lab can push the receipt date past your window

Each fact comes straight from the operator’s published policy. Tap the to read the exact wording; the opens the source page.

Health & documents

Microchip · Required Yesverified 2026-10-01
Microchip · Must be done before vaccination Yesverified 2026-10-01
Quarantine · Typedesignated quarantine facilityverified 2026-10-01
Quarantine · Required Yesverified 2026-10-01
Quarantine · Reducible Yesverified 2026-10-01
Quarantine · Duration7 daysverified 2026-10-01
Quarantine · Reduced duration0 daysverified 2026-10-27
Quarantine · Approved facility required Yesverified 2026-10-01
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Required Yesverified 2026-10-01
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Minimum level iu ml0.5verified 2026-08-13
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Test validity months12 monthsverified 2026-10-01
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Approved laboratory required Yesverified 2026-10-01
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Waiting period after test days90 daysverified 2026-10-01
Import permit · Required Yesverified 2026-10-01
Import permit · Lead time20 daysverified 2026-10-01
Import permit · Issuing authorityAPHIA (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency), Ministry of Agricultureverified 2026-10-01
Health certificate · Required Yesverified 2026-10-01
Health certificate · Endorsed bythe animal quarantine authority of the exporting countryverified 2026-10-01
Health certificate · Government endorsed Yesverified 2026-10-01
Rabies vaccination · Required Yesverified 2026-10-01
Rabies vaccination · Booster required Yesverified 2026-08-13
Rabies vaccination · Approved vaccines list
  • Inactivated vaccine or a rabies vaccine approved for use in Taiwan
verified 2026-08-31
Rabies vaccination · Booster interval12 monthsverified 2026-07-15
Rabies vaccination · Waiting period after vaccination30 daysverified 2026-10-01
Rabies vaccination · Max vaccine age at travel12 monthsverified 2026-10-01
Rabies vaccination · Min age at vaccination13 weeksverified 2026-10-01

Other rules

Pets accepted Acceptedverified 2026-10-01

Timing chain

Day -90 microchip implant · Day -30 rabies vaccine deadline · Day 0 arrive at customs

Conditional requirements

These rules apply only to some travellers — where the pet is departing from, where it has been, or who is travelling with it. Most people can ignore them, but if one applies to you it can change what you need, or mean denied entry if you skip it.

Pet arriving from a non-rabies-free country — If your pet has been in one of 104 higher-risk countries in the last 6 months:

  • Quarantine: APHIA's February 2024 Quarantine Requirements set a 7-day post-entry quarantine at a designated facility for a pet arriving from a country Taiwan does not recognise as rabies-free. It can be waived in specific cases — see the plan notes.
  • Rabies titer (blood) test: FAVN titer ≥ 0.5 IU/ml required.
  • Import permit: Apply for the import quarantine permit at least 20 days before importation, through APHIA's online system at https://pet-epermit.aphia.gov.tw/ . BAPHIQ was renamed APHIA in 2023.

Pet arriving in Taiwan from one of APHIA's twelve rabies-free jurisdictions

  • Quarantine: APHIA recognises twelve jurisdictions as rabies-free: Australia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway (excluding Svalbard), Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the State of Hawaii and Territory of Guam of the United States. A dog or cat coming from one of them needs NO rabies neutralizing antibody titer test and NO post-entry quarantine — the 7-day stay at a designated facility and the 90-day blood-sampling window are the rabies-infected-origin rules and do not apply to you. What Taiwan asks instead: the pet must have been kept in a rabies-free country continuously for at least 180 days before entry (or since birth, if it is under 180 days old); you still apply for the import permit at least 20 days ahead through APHIA's online system; the pet still needs a microchip and a rabies vaccination given between 1 year and 30 days before import, at 90 days of age or older; and you still present the original animal quarantine certificate from your own country's quarantine authority on arrival. One trap worth knowing: if your flight TRANSITS a rabies-infected country you lose the exemption unless you can produce a document from that country's quarantine or customs authority, or from the airline, attesting the pet never left the airport and had no contact with other animals — or the crate was sealed with the seal number written on the export certificate. Without one of those, Taiwan imposes the 7-day post-entry quarantine anyway.
  • Rabies titer (blood) test: APHIA recognises twelve jurisdictions as rabies-free: Australia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway (excluding Svalbard), Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the State of Hawaii and Territory of Guam of the United States. A dog or cat coming from one of them needs NO rabies neutralizing antibody titer test and NO post-entry quarantine — the 7-day stay at a designated facility and the 90-day blood-sampling window are the rabies-infected-origin rules and do not apply to you. What Taiwan asks instead: the pet must have been kept in a rabies-free country continuously for at least 180 days before entry (or since birth, if it is under 180 days old); you still apply for the import permit at least 20 days ahead through APHIA's online system; the pet still needs a microchip and a rabies vaccination given between 1 year and 30 days before import, at 90 days of age or older; and you still present the original animal quarantine certificate from your own country's quarantine authority on arrival. One trap worth knowing: if your flight TRANSITS a rabies-infected country you lose the exemption unless you can produce a document from that country's quarantine or customs authority, or from the airline, attesting the pet never left the airport and had no contact with other animals — or the crate was sealed with the seal number written on the export certificate. Without one of those, Taiwan imposes the 7-day post-entry quarantine anyway.

Breed restrictions

Banned breeds: American Pit Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull, American Staffordshire Terrier verified 2026-10-01

Ports of entry (5)

  • Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE)
  • Taipei Songshan Airport (TSA)
  • Taipei Port (TWTPE)
  • Taichung International Airport (RMQ)
  • Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH)

verified 2026-10-01

The health certificate must carry the microchip number and the date of rabies vaccination on the same document, in Chinese or English, alongside species, gender, age and the vaccine brand. A certificate missing the chip number cannot be matched to the animal at inspection. Ask the vet to scan the chip and transcribe the number onto the certificate rather than reading it from an earlier record.
Taiwan bans the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull and American Staffordshire Terrier by Ministry of Agriculture announcement. A banned breed cannot be permitted in, and a crossbreed is judged on description rather than on registration papers. Settle the breed determination with the authority before applying for the permit or booking freight.
The import permit application must be submitted at least 20 days before importation. That window runs alongside the titre waiting period rather than after it, so the application goes in as soon as the titre result is dated. Treat 20 days as the floor between submitting and flying, not a target to aim at.
Taiwan rewards starting early: permit 20 days out, a titre with its own wait, a quarantine on arrival, and a breed list that is checked. We've all been there with a timeline that worked until one date slipped. Build your personalized plan on Pawgo and you will get the whole sequence counted backwards from the arrival date you want, with your own origin country factored in.
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