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.

When travelling with an animal to a country other than Sweden, you must always check what rules apply for the relevant country. Thus, if you are travelling with a dog or cat to a country other than Sweden, and subsequently travel with the animal to Sweden, you must be aware of the import rules for both the other country and Sweden.

The Swedish Board of Agriculture is the competent authority

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 resident in an 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.

Notify that you are going to travel with your dog or cat

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.	No.	No.
Do you have to pay any charges?	No.	Yes. Read more about charges.	Yes. Read more about charges.
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.

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.

Purchasing a dog or a cat in an EU Member State

When purchasing a dog or a cat in an EU Member State that you intend to bring to Sweden, you must give notification of the animal to Swedish Customs. This may be done as you cross the border, when sending the animal as a consignment or online on tullverket.se. No notification fees apply.

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 8 405 05 70.

Purchasing a dog or a cat outside the European Union

When purchasing a dog or a cat in country outside the EU, you should also give notification to Swedish Customs. Depending of the value of your goods, including the animal, and your mode of transportation, the following apply:

Give notification of your animal to Swedish Customs. When purchasing your animal in Norway, you are only required to give notification if the value exceeds
SEK 3,500;
When travelling on a commercial aircraft or ferry, VAT and other import duties apply if the value of your goods (including the animal) exceeds SEK 5,000;
When travelling by car or train, VAT and other import duties apply if the value of your goods (including the animal) exceeds SEK 3,300.

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.

Is the dog or cat changing 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.

Help us combat smuggling

As a dog buyer, you can help us combat dog smuggling by meticulously checking the background of your dog(s). In doing so, you help us fight animal abuse and ensure that contagious diseases do not enter Sweden.