
Travelling with dogs or cats
When you want to bring your dog or cat into Sweden, you must always give Swedish Customs notification of the animal. Failure to do this may be a crime against Sweden’s Act on Penalties for Smuggling. The animal must also fulfil the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s requirements for importation or exportation.
The Swedish Board of Agriculture, which is the authority responsible for rules on the importation of animals to Sweden, has more detailed information.
Give notification via the internet – choose the green lane
If you are travelling from another EU country and have an animal with a European pet passport with you, you can give Swedish Customs notification of dogs and cats via the internet here. When you arrive in Sweden, you can choose the green lane (“Nothing to declare”) in the surveillance area. If a customs officer asks, you must be able to present your notification number and the animal’s European pet passport.
You do not have to “denotify” (i.e. “notify the return of”) your dog or cat.
Give notification at the border – choose the red lane
You give notification by going to a so-called “red point” (regardless of whether the animal is with you or was sent as freight). This is in the red lane of the surveillance area. Contact a customs officer in the surveillance area.
If there is no customs officer on duty, you are to give notification in any of the following ways:
- Use the telephone in the red lane of the surveillance area.
- Ring the telephone number stated on a poster in the red lane of the surveillance area.
- Go to the nearest customs clearance office.
Travelling by train between Denmark and Sweden
If you are travelling on a direct train between Denmark and Sweden, there is no possibility of choosing a red lane. You may contact a uniformed customs officer on the train. If you do not find a uniformed customs officer on the train, you must ring Swedish Customs’ on-duty officers via +46 40 661 32 25.
Paying charges
If you buy, receive as a gift or adopt a dog or a cat from a country outside the EU, you may have to pay charges for the animal. The charges depend on, amongst other things, the purchase price or value of the animal and freight charges.
Read more about the charges that apply when you buy outside the EU.
Is the dog or cat to have a new owner?
If the dog or cat is to change owner after importation into Sweden, or if the animal is travelling entirely alone as freight, other requirements apply.
When must you give notification of an animal?
Animal from another EU country | Animal from a country outside the EU | Animal from Norway | |
---|---|---|---|
Notify Swedish Customs when you cross the border | Yes, each time. | Yes, each time. | No. Dogs, cats and ferrets may be freely brought in if they are ID marked and have a European pet passport. |
Notify Swedish Customs when you send animals as freight | Yes, each time. | Yes, each time. | Yes, each time. |
Notify Swedish Customs via the internet | Yes, if you are resident in an EU country. Read more under the “Notify via the internet” heading. | No. | No. |
Do you have to pay any charges? | No. | Yes. | Yes. |
Which rules apply from which countries? | Applies from all EU countries and for animals travelling from Andorra, Iceland Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican State. | The Swedish Board of Agriculture here distinguishes between listed and not listed countries. Check with the board to find out which countries are listed and those which are not. |
Help to stop smuggling
As a dog buyer, you can help to stop dog smuggling by meticulously checking the background of your dog(s). In this way, you help to stop animal suffering and ensure that contagious diseases do not enter Sweden.
Last updated: 2020-11-03
What is updated: Quality assured