Exporting Animals and Animal Products

For information on taking your pets out of New Zealand, please refer to:
Search for requirements to take your pet overseas.

Animal Products

If you are a primary processor or exporter of animal products, including meat, processed game, seafood, dairy and honey, then you need to comply with the Animal Products Act 1999.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (offsite link to www.nzfsa.govt.nz) sets and administers food safety standards under this Act.

Exporters need to be registered for commercial exporting of live animals, animal germplasm and bees

Commercial exporters of live animals / livestock, animal germplasm (semen and embryos) and bees must be registered under the Animal Products Act. These applications are assessed according to requirements set out in section 54 of the Animal Products Act. An annual exporter fee is payable. Owners exporting their own animals for non-commercial reasons, such as owners of pet cats and dogs, are not required to be registered.

1. Apply (offsite link to www.foodsafety.govt.nz) to become a registered exporter with the NZ Food Safety Authority.
2. Pay the annual exporter registration fee.
3. Check if an Animal Welfare Export Certificate (AWEC) is required.
4. Check the Official Assurance Programme: Requirements for the export of live animals and germplasm which consolidates specifications, export requirements and directions that apply to official assurances issued under the Animal Products Act 1999.
5. Laboratories (offsite link to www.biosecurity.govt.nz) registered for export testing are being registered with MAF Biosecurity.
6. Exporters must make sure they comply with requirements of other government departments or international conventions associated with exporting commodities. For the export of Unwanted Organisms, exporters must ensure they comply with section 52 and/or 53 of the Biosecurity Act 1993.

Search for the export requirements and export certificate templates

Search for the export requirements and export certificate templates by entering an animal, commodity, country, or a combination of, to search.

Use an already registered exporter

You can choose to use the services of an already registered exporter:
List of registered exporters (offsite link to www.foodsafety.govt.nz)

In addition to the export certifications and AWEC's, the following standards apply for transporting livestock

Non-Commercial exporting of live animals

Owners exporting live animals for non-commercial reasons, such as the owners of pet cats or dogs, are not required to be registered. For the requirements for taking your pets out of New Zealand, please refer to:

Page last updated: 13 January 2012