Voyager avec un animal — Liban (2026)

Points clés

• The instrument is Ministry of Agriculture Decision No
• 1/657 of 8 August 2016, "تنظيم استيراد الحيوانات المنزلية الأليفة" (Regulating the import of domestic pet animals), issued under the Veterinary Quarantine Law, Decree No
• 12301 of 20 March 1963
• It is still the ONLY decision on importing domestic pets in the Ministry's own Import/Export Decisions register, and no amending, suspending or wartime instrument has been issued
• So despite the conflict the legal requirements are unchanged — what the war has disrupted is flight availability into Beirut, not the rules
• Plan for the route, not for a rule change
• Quarantine is NOT routine, and this is the single most misunderstood point
• Under Article 5 it bites only on an animal that arrives without a microchip or without the required vaccinations; such an animal is held at its owner's premises or at a registered approved farm, and is admitted only once it has been chipped and vaccinated, at the owner's expense
• A compliant pet is not quarantined at all
• Article 6 separately lets the Directorate of Animal Resources quarantine and blood-test an imported animal where necessary
• Rabies alone is not enough, and this is the mistake that gets pets turned away at Beirut
• Article 4 additionally requires vaccination against viral enteritis (parvovirus) and feline panleukopenia, and requires that the animal be treated with anthelmintics
• The Consulate General of Lebanon states the fuller combination: "For dogs, necessary vaccinations include distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, and leptospirosis." and "Cats should be vaccinated against panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis, and calicivirus." A record showing only a rabies shot does not meet the requirement
• The rabies shot itself must be given at least one month before arrival in Lebanon
• Your permit is issued at the border, not before you fly: "Upon arrival, pet owners must secure an import permit from a customs officer." There is no advance application and no consular step — "Pets can be shipped to Lebanon without the need to go through the Consulate." Budget nothing for permit lead time, but do budget for the certificate, which has a hard ten-day window: "The certificate must be completed within 10 days prior to the journey." Under Article 3 a personal consignment accompanying its owner of up to three animals is exempt from the importer-registration regime; above three you must apply to the Directorate of Animal Resources first
• Clearance happens at a border agricultural and veterinary quarantine centre — for air arrivals, Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport
• The framework decree is still listed as current on the Ministry's register with no repeal recorded: "This decree shall apply to the veterinary quarantine, which consists in subjecting animals and animal based products exported to Lebanon to the veterinary health control in order to prevent the infiltration of pandemic deceases to Lebanon." Its special handling attaches to where the animal comes FROM, not to every arrival: "It also determines the import procedures for certain types of animals coming from endemic countries"