Central America and Mexico

Nicaragua

Import permit neededRabies vaccine neededVet certificate needed

Before you sail

Import permit — apply at least 3 days before arrival
Rabies vaccine between 1 year and 30 days before arrival
Veterinary health certificate, endorsed by the exporting country's veterinary authority
Parasite treatment — internal and external
Dogs vaccinated against: RABIA (rabies), DISTEMPER ó MOQUILLO CANINO (canine distemper), HEPATITIS (canine hepatitis), LEPTOPIROSIS [sic — IPSA's spelling of leptospirosis], PARVOVIROSIS (parvovirus)
Cats vaccinated against: Rabia (rabies), Panleucopenia felina (feline panleukopenia)

Not requiredMicrochip

Not documented Rabies titer test · Quarantine

Fees

Permit

Chargeable, amount not recorded. NTON 11005 requires the importer to pay for the service once the permit application has been processed but names no figure. IPSA publishes its tariffs at ipsa.gob.ni/Tarifas under Resolución Ejecutiva No. 005-2019 (as published in La Gaceta) and Resolución Ejecutiva No. 001-2019 (services not covered by Acuerdo Ministerial No. 006-2012). Both were retrieved and both are image-only scans with no text layer; no live-animal import permit line could be read from either, so no amount appears in this file.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2,3]

Inspection

Not published separately. NTON 11005 provides for payment of "el costo de los servicios prestados" without itemising inspection, and no figure was obtainable from the tariff resolutions.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.^[2]

Other

The cost of any quarantine measure — retention, treatment, quarantine proper, seizure, destruction — falls on the importer with no right to indemnity under NTON 11005. Where a risk analysis is required the importer pays the corresponding arancel before the analysis begins. No amounts are published for any of these.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]

DO NOT USE A FIGURE FROM A PET-RELOCATION SITE HERE. None is recorded in this file precisely because none could be read from an official document, and a plausible-looking number from a commercial page is worse than no number at all. Ask IPSA's import window (Departamento de Ventanilla de Importaciones) for the current tariff when applying for the permit. Nothing found states what payment methods are accepted or whether payment can be made from abroad.^[2,1,3]

Timeline

1 year – 30 days before arrivalRabies vaccine given in this window
3 days before arrivalApply for the import permit
ArrivalPresent the permit and certificate; clear the animal before going ashore.

On arrival & aboard

At the dock: THE FINDING THAT MATTERS MOST ON THIS PAGE. IPSA staffs ten agricultural quarantine posts and publishes the list. NOT ONE OF THEM IS ON THE CARIBBEAN SEABOARD. The single seaport is Corinto, on the Pacific. The only post on the Caribbean side of the country is El Rama, and El Rama is a river port up the Río Escondido — the barge and panga road-head for Bluefields, not a place a cruising yacht arrives. Bluefields, El Bluff, Big Corn, Little Corn, Puerto Cabezas/Bilwi and the Miskito Cays appear nowhere on it, and neither does any Caribbean-side airport. Those places are ports of entry for people and for cargo — that is decided by immigration, customs and the port authority, and it is a different question from whether an ANIMAL can be cleared there. What this list establishes is that IPSA publishes no animal-quarantine presence on the Caribbean coast at all. What it does NOT establish is that landing an animal there is prohibited: the autonomous regions RACCN and RACCS are administered separately from the Pacific side, IPSA may have delegación staff not shown on the quarantine roster, and no source found here says one way or the other. Note also the interaction with NTON 11005's retention rule — where IPSA has no facilities to take samples from live animals it authorises home quarantine under a retention order, which on this coast is the default condition rather than an exception. Settle this with IPSA's Departamento de Cuarentena Animal in Managua before committing to a Caribbean-coast landfall with an animal aboard.

Quarantine

Not yet documented

Duration

40 days (RECORDED WITH A WARNING ATTACHED, AND IT IS NOT IPSA'S. This 40 days appears in exactly one place: the "Requisitos Adicionales" paragraph that closes the FELINOS — cats — section of SENASA Perú's mirror. "El animal o los animales, a su llegada al país importador, deberán permanecer en cuarentena oficial, bajo supervisión de la autoridad sanitaria, por un mínimo de 40 días, posteriores a la fecha de su ingreso, periodo durante el cual podrán ser sometidos a pruebas complementarias." In English: on arrival in the importing country the animals must remain in OFFICIAL quarantine, under the supervision of the sanitary authority, for a minimum of 40 days from the date of entry, during which they may be subjected to further tests. It is OFFICIAL quarantine, not home quarantine. It appears in neither Nicaraguan document — not in IPSA's requirements sheet, not in NTON 11005 — and it is attached to cats and not to dogs, which is odd enough on its face to want checking. It may be a Peruvian formatting artefact; it may be real. Forty days ashore in official custody is the difference between a stop and an abandoned cruise, so it is recorded rather than dropped, and it must be confirmed with IPSA before it is either believed or ignored. See outstanding questions.)^[4]

Where it is served

Not defined for an animal, and not defined for a vessel. NTON 11005's home quarantine is at "las bodegas del importador" — the importer's premises — or at an address covered by an acta de retención domiciliar, under IPSA surveillance. Whether a yacht in a berth or at anchor can be that address is addressed nowhere, and the question is sharper here than in most of this dataset because the norm's own trigger for home quarantine is the ABSENCE of official facilities, which on the Caribbean coast is the standing condition rather than the exception. Where the 40-day feline quarantine in SENASA Perú's mirror would be served is not stated either; it is described as "cuarentena oficial", which implies a facility, and no such facility is named anywhere.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2,4]

What it costs, and who pays

On the importer, with no compensation and no schedule of amounts. NTON 11005: "Los gastos ocasionados por la aplicación de cualquier medida cuarentenaria serán asumidas por el importador sin derecho a indemnización según lo establecido en la legislación vigente" — the costs of applying any quarantine measure are borne by the importer with no right to indemnity. That covers retention, treatment, seizure and destruction as well as quarantine proper. No figure is published for any of them.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]

If your papers are not in order

Two different provisions could put an animal into quarantine, and they come from different documents. FIRST, the 40-day official quarantine described under duration, which SENASA Perú states for cats and no Nicaraguan document states for anything. SECOND, and much more likely to be what a boat actually meets, NTON 11005's retention provision: "Cuando la ANC no disponga de las instalaciones para la toma de muestras de animales vivos, autorizará la cuarentena domiciliar con acta de retención y bajo vigilancia de la misma" — where IPSA does not have facilities for taking samples from live animals, it will authorise home quarantine under a retention order and its own surveillance. Read that alongside the fact that IPSA has no quarantine post anywhere on the Caribbean coast and you have the realistic shape of an arrival at Bluefields or Corn Island: no facilities, therefore a retention order, therefore confinement at an address under supervision, for a period nothing specifies. The norm separately allows retention "hacia las bodegas del importador con acta de retención domiciliar" where the border post lacks inspection facilities. It also gives fifteen calendar days to produce missing original documents that are capable of being remedied, after which the consignment is rejected, seized or destroyed — and for an animal that fifteen-day clock is a period of confinement too.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[4,2]

Open questions

High priority

HIGH PRIORITY — WHICH LABORATORY TESTS? NTON 11005 requires original per-animal laboratory results, negative for "las enfermedades de interés sanitario, según la especie", from official or officially endorsed laboratories of the exporting country, for every individual live animal imported. No source published by IPSA, and none found anywhere, lists what those diseases are for a dog or a cat. IPSA's own requirements sheet specifies no test at all. This is an unbounded and unsatisfiable obligation as published, it cannot be met retrospectively, and originals are required. Get the species list in writing from IPSA before arranging anything else.
HIGH PRIORITY — IS THE 40-DAY QUARANTINE REAL, AND DOES IT APPLY TO DOGS? SENASA Perú's mirror closes its FELINOS section with a minimum 40-day OFFICIAL quarantine under the sanitary authority's supervision on arrival, during which further tests may be run. Neither IPSA's requirements sheet nor NTON 11005 contains it, and it is attached to cats but not to dogs, which may mean it is a formatting artefact in a Peruvian document or may mean IPSA genuinely quarantines cats. Confirm with IPSA whether any official quarantine applies to dogs or cats, for how long, where it is served, and at what cost. Forty days in official custody ashore is the difference between a stop and an abandoned passage.
HIGH PRIORITY — CAN A CRUISER BE AN "IMPORTADOR" AT ALL? The pathway NTON 11005 lays out is commercial. The importer must register with IPSA, the importer and the DESTINATION ESTABLISHMENT must be registered in the Sistema Oficial Informático de Trazabilidad Pecuaria, the permit application must carry the destination's Código Único de Establecimiento, and SENASA Perú's document list adds a cédula RUC — a Nicaraguan taxpayer number. The RUC at least has an alternative: NTON 11005 chapter 6.2 lets a foreign natural person register with a valid passport or residence card OR a RUC, so a visitor is not locked out on that count. The CUE and the destination establishment are the harder problem — a visiting yacht has neither. Ask IPSA what a non-resident foreign traveller arriving by sea with one dog or one cat actually files, and whether any simplified route exists that is not published.

Also open

HIGHEST PRIORITY — CAN AN ANIMAL BE CLEARED ANYWHERE ON THE CARIBBEAN COAST AT ALL? IPSA's published roster of Puestos de Cuarentena Agropecuaria has ten entries and not one is on the Caribbean seaboard: the only seaport is Corinto, on the Pacific, and the only post on the Caribbean side of the divide is El Rama, a river port up the Río Escondido. Bluefields, El Bluff, Big Corn, Little Corn, Puerto Cabezas/Bilwi and the Miskito Cays are absent, as is every Caribbean-side airport. Ask the Departamento de Cuarentena Animal in Managua directly: is there any IPSA officer on the Caribbean coast authorised to inspect and clear a dog or cat; if not, can one be sent, at whose cost and on what notice; does the RACCN/RACCS autonomous administration change the answer; and is an animal aboard a yacht that clears immigration at Big Corn or Bluefields simply unclearable? Everything else on this page is academic until this is answered.
NO HEALTH CERTIFICATE VALIDITY WINDOW IS PUBLISHED, and one was specifically looked for. A 14-day figure circulates widely on commercial sites; it is in none of the three documents and is not recorded here. Confirm with IPSA whether a certificate has a validity period, and whether it is counted to shipment or to arrival — the distinction decides whether a slow passage breaks it. Note that the vaccination, immunogen-bar and antiparasitic clocks are all counted to embarkation or export, so as published a long crossing erodes none of them.
DOES THE IMPORT PERMIT SURVIVE A PASSAGE? The Permiso Sanitario-Fitosanitario de Importación is valid 30 calendar days from issue, covers one shipment, and is renewable once, for the same period, within three working days of expiry — but the renewal is described as an over-the-counter transaction requiring surrender of the expired original and its carbon copies. A boat cannot do that from sea. Ask whether the 30 days run to arrival at the border post, whether time on passage can be excused, and whether the renewal can be done remotely or by an agent.
IPSA'S OWN TWO DOCUMENTS DO NOT AGREE ON WHAT TO PRESENT. The requirements sheet says the documents to hand over at the border of entry are the official sanitary export certificate, a health card from a veterinarian in the country of origin, and a passport — three items. NTON 11005 requires the original import permit, the official sanitary certificate, the certificate of origin, a copy of the commercial invoice and per-animal laboratory originals, and SENASA Perú adds a RUC. Confirm which list an officer at the border actually works from, because the short list is the one published on the page a traveller is most likely to find.
THE CAT VACCINE LIST RESTS ON A FOREIGN SOURCE. IPSA's sheet is headed "Perro o Gatos" and then gives a single, canine, five-immunogen list — distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, rabies — without ever separating the species. Only SENASA Perú's mirror gives cats their own list (rabies and feline panleukopenia) and its own outer bound of 360 rather than 365 days. Confirm with IPSA what a cat actually needs, and whether the 360/365 discrepancy is real or a transcription slip. As published, a cat presented against IPSA's own sheet would need canine vaccines it cannot usefully be given.
CAN THE COUNTRY YOU ARE LEAVING SATISFY NUMERAL 5? IPSA requires the animal to have been inspected at the moment of shipment, at the point of exit, by an OFFICIAL animal-quarantine officer of the country of origin. That is straightforward from a capital-city airport and may be impossible from an anchorage in the San Blas, Providencia or the Bay Islands. Establish before departure whether the departure state will send an official to the vessel, what it certifies on, and what happens if it will not — this cannot be remedied after sailing.
NO MINIMUM AGE AND NO BREED RULE WERE FOUND, and neither absence was confirmed as deliberate. No source sets a minimum age for the animal or for the rabies vaccination, though the 30-day floor on the vaccination window imposes one arithmetically. No breed restriction appears in any of the three documents, but Nicaraguan police and municipal law was not searched for this file and absence of a statement is not an exemption. Confirm both with IPSA, and check whether any municipal ordinance in the autonomous regions restricts particular breeds.
NO FEE FIGURE IS RECORDED. NTON 11005 requires payment for the permit and for any risk analysis, and puts the cost of every quarantine measure on the importer without indemnity, but names no amounts. IPSA's two tariff resolutions were retrieved from ipsa.gob.ni/Tarifas and both are image-only scans with no text layer, so nothing could be read from them. Obtain the current tariff from IPSA's Departamento de Ventanilla de Importaciones, and establish what payment methods are accepted and whether payment is possible from a foreign account.
Nothing in the sources addresses an animal that stays aboard and never lands, so no transit section is authored here.

Page status

Central America and Mexico · Sovereign republicDataset status Inferredconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.Last checked 2026-08-13 Recently checkedfreshness: Recently checked. Sources were last re-read 60 days ago, well inside the 180-day window. Recent is not reviewed — this page is still an unreviewed draft.

Evidence

Import permit

Permit

Required^[2,4]

Apply ahead

3 days (A maximum, and in WORKING days: "La ANC tendrá un plazo máximo de 3 días hábiles para la emisión del Permiso Sanitario-Fitosanitario de importación" (repunctuated from the Gaceta scan, which runs "LaANC" together). The norm also provides that where requirements are not met the application is simply refused. No source states how long the anterior steps — importer registration, and the risk analysis the norm requires the first time a commodity is imported from a country it has not come from before — take, and that risk analysis carries its own stated minimum of 90 working days.)^[2]

Evidence for Apply ahead

13. LaANC tendrá un plazo máximo de 3 días hábiles para la emisión del Permiso Sanitario-Fitosanitario de importación

Validity

30 days (Thirty calendar days from the date of issue, and good for ONE shipment only: "El Permiso Sanitario-Fitosanitario de Importación para mercancías e insumos pecuarios será utilizado para un sólo embarque y tiene una validez de 30 días calendario a partir de la fecha de emisión." If it expires the importer has three working days to renew it once, for the same period, by surrendering the expired original and its carbon copies at IPSA's import window with updated supporting documents. THIS IS THE CLOCK A PASSAGE IS MOST LIKELY TO BREAK. The norm does not say in terms that the permit must still be live when the animal reaches the border, but it requires the ORIGINAL permit to be presented there and ties the permit to a single shipment, so the natural reading is that a permit issued 40 days before landfall is no good — and unlike the vaccination window, this one is counted from a fixed date of issue rather than to embarkation, so time at sea consumes it. The renewal is described as an over-the-counter transaction requiring surrender of the expired original and its carbon copies, which is not something a boat can do from sea. Confirm the arrival-side reading with IPSA rather than relying on it.)^[2]

Evidence for Validity

15. El Permiso Sanitario-Fitosanitario de Importación para mercancías e insumos pecuarios será utilizado para un sólo embarque y tiene una validez de 30 días calendario a partir de la fecha de emisión.

What it costs

Chargeable, amount not recorded. NTON 11005 says only that once the application has been processed the importer pays the cost of the services rendered ("el importador realiza cancelación del costo de los servicios prestados ante la ANC"). IPSA publishes tariffs on ipsa.gob.ni/Tarifas as four PDFs plus a 2015 download. The two that would carry an import-permit line — Resolución Ejecutiva No. 005-2019 as published in La Gaceta, and Resolución Ejecutiva No. 001-2019 for services not covered by Acuerdo Ministerial No. 006-2012 — are both image-only scans with no text layer, so no figure could be read out of either. The other two (Res. Ej. 020-2020 on inspección en origen, and 056-2018 on export certificates) were not opened, being on their face about other services. No amount is recorded in this file and none should be inferred from third- party sources. See the fees section.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]

Email: ramon.torrentes@ipsa.gob.ni
Phone: +505 8560 7700
Official page: https://www.ipsa.gob.ni/Requisitos

THE PERMIT REGIME IS REAL; WHETHER IT REACHES YOUR DOG IS NOT STATED. NTON 11005:2022 §7.15 gives the Permiso Sanitario-Fitosanitario a validity of thirty calendar days for one shipment, and the ANC "tendrá un plazo máximo de 3 días hábiles para la emisión" — so those are the permit's real terms. But that norm governs "la actividad de importación" of "mercancías e insumos pecuarios" by a registered importer with a RUC, tax clearance and a commercial invoice. IPSA's own one-page dog-and-cat requirements sheet lists what to present at the border — "Certificado sanitario oficial de exportación", a veterinary health card and a passport — and names no import permit at all. The two IPSA positions are in tension and neither resolves it. Ask IPSA before you sail; if the answer is that a traveller's own pet needs no permit, this section is what should change.^[2,1]

Rabies

Vaccination

Required^[1,4]

Min. age at vaccination

Not documented. No source sets a minimum age for the rabies vaccination itself, or for the animal.

Min. before travel

30 days (The near end of the window, counted to the date of export: the immunogens must have been given "entre 365 y 30 días previos a la fecha de exportación". A rabies vaccination given less than 30 days before the animal leaves does not qualify. Reinforced from the other direction by numeral 2 — "En los 29 días previos a la fecha de embarque del animal o de los animales, estos no recibieron ningún inmunogeno" — which bars ANY immunogen, not merely rabies, in the 29 days before shipment. Between them these two sentences make a pre-departure top-up not just useless but disqualifying. No source distinguishes a first vaccination from a booster.)^[1,4]

Max. before travel

365 days (THE FIGURE MOST LIKELY TO CATCH A CRUISING ANIMAL OUT, because it overrides the product's own validity. The far end of numeral 3's window is 365 days before the date of export for dogs. SENASA Perú's feline section gives 360 rather than 365 — five days' difference, unexplained, and not a margin to plan against. Nothing in either document says a vaccine "in date" will do; it says the injection happened inside that window. A three-year rabies product given eighteen months ago is in date everywhere else in this dataset and fails here. In practice this makes an annual booster mandatory, and it has to land more than 30 days and less than a year before departure.)^[1,4]

Boosters, and what the certificate must show

The certificate must state, for each immunogen, "la fecha de inmunización y marca del producto utilizado" — the date of immunisation and the brand of the product used. A bare "rabies, current" line does not satisfy that. No source names an approved product, manufacturer or vaccine type, requires the vaccine to be inactivated, or distinguishes a primary course from a booster; what governs is only the date, and the date has to fall inside the 365-to-30-day window before export. Because that window closes at one year, a product with a longer stated validity does not extend it — see max_vaccine_age. Nothing addresses an animal arriving from a country that does not vaccinate against rabies, and nothing describes vaccination on arrival in Nicaragua as an option.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,4]

Rabies titer test

A blood test that measures rabies antibodies, to show the vaccination actually took. The sample has to be drawn a set time after the jab, and some places then make you wait months more before the animal may land — so this is the requirement most worth checking before you plan a route, not after.

Blood titer

Not yet documented

Required level

NO RABIES ANTIBODY TITRE IS SPECIFIED — no threshold, no approved laboratory and no waiting period appears in IPSA's sheet, in NTON 11005 or in SENASA Perú's mirror. But do not read that as "no blood tests", because NTON 11005 imposes a laboratory requirement whose CONTENT IS UNPUBLISHED. For an individual live animal the importer must present, at the border and in original, "los resultados de laboratorio por animal, negativos a las enfermedades de interés sanitario, según la especie, estos deben ser emitidos por laboratorios oficiales, autorizados y/o avalados por la autoridad competente del país exportador" — per-animal laboratory results, negative for the diseases of sanitary interest for that species, issued by official laboratories of the exporting country or ones it authorises or endorses. Which diseases those are for a dog or a cat is stated NOWHERE: IPSA's requirements sheet lists no test at all, and the norm defers to a species list it never publishes. This is the largest undefined obligation on this page. It cannot be satisfied by guesswork, the results must be originals from an officially recognised laboratory, and it has to be settled with IPSA before the animal is anywhere near the boat.^[2,1]

Veterinary health certificate

Certificate

Required^[1,4,2]

Evidence for Certificate

1. El animal o los animales cuentan con un certificado de salud emitido por un médico veterinario oficial o privado, en el que conste que el animal o los animales fueron examinados clínicamente y encontrados en buen estado de salud, sin evidencia de ENFERMEDADES INFECTO-CONTAGIOSA y que fueron inmunizados de acuerdo al numeral 3 de estos requisitos:

Completed within

NO VALIDITY WINDOW IS PUBLISHED, and this was specifically looked for. IPSA's sheet requires a certificado de salud and, separately, a "Certificado sanitario oficial de exportación" at the border, and dates neither. NTON 11005 dates neither. SENASA Perú's mirror dates neither. A 14-day figure is widely repeated for Nicaragua on commercial sites; it appears in none of the three documents and is NOT recorded here. Do not read the silence as generosity — every other clock on this page is short, and an undated certificate is a discretion, not an exemption. The dated constraints that do exist run to EMBARKATION, not to arrival: the 365/360 to 30 day vaccination window, the 29-day immunogen bar and the 30-day antiparasitic window are all counted to the date of shipment or export.^[1]

Gov. endorsement

Required^[1,2,4]

Arriving by sea

None published, in any of the three documents. No allowance, extension or force- majeure provision for time on passage exists, and no source distinguishes a yacht from any other means of arrival. Two consequences are worth separating. The vaccination and antiparasitic windows are counted to EMBARKATION or to the date of export, so a long crossing does not erode them — which is unusually kind by the standards of this dataset. The import permit's 30-day validity is counted from ISSUE and must still be live when the animal presents at the border, so that one does erode, and it is the clock a slow passage breaks.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,2,4]

What the certificate must say

IPSA's requirements sheet, in full. "1. El animal o los animales cuentan con un certificado de salud emitido por un médico veterinario oficial o privado, en el que conste que el animal o los animales fueron examinados clínicamente y encontrados en buen estado de salud, sin evidencia de ENFERMEDADES INFECTO-CONTAGIOSA y que fueron inmunizados de acuerdo al numeral 3 de estos requisitos: 2. En los 29 días previos a la fecha de embarque del animal o de los animales, estos no recibieron ningún inmunogeno; 3. El animal o los animales recibieron entre 365 y 30 días previos a la fecha de exportación los siguientes inmunogenos: a. DISTEMPER ó MOQUILLO CANINO b. HEPATITIS c. LEPTOPIROSIS d. PARVOVIROSIS e. RABIA Indicándose la fecha de inmunización y marca del producto utilizado. 4. En los 30 días previos a la fecha del embarque del animal o los animales, estos recibieron tratamientos contra ENDOPARASITOS Y ECTOPARASITOS, utilizando productos autorizados por el país de origen. 5. El animal o los animales fueron inspeccionados al momento de su embarque, en el punto de salida del país, por un funcionario oficial de cuarentena animal del país de origen, no mostrando, HERIDAS FRESCAS O EN PROCESO DE CICATRIZACION, ni presencia de ECTOPARASITOS; 6. La jaula o jaulas fueron lavados y desinfectadas previamente a la fecha de embarque del animal o los animales, utilizando productos autorizados por el país de origen." Then, under the heading "Documentos que deberá presentar en frontera de ingreso": "Certificado sanitario oficial de exportación. Tarjeta de salud emitida por médico veterinario del país de Origen. Pasaporte." — In English: the animal holds a health certificate issued by an official or private veterinarian recording that it was clinically examined and found in good health with no evidence of infectious or contagious disease, and immunised per numeral 3; it received no immunogen in the 29 days before shipment; it received, between 365 and 30 days before the date of export, distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus and rabies, with the date of immunisation and the brand of product used stated; it received internal and external antiparasitic treatment in the 30 days before shipment with products authorised in the country of origin; it was inspected at the moment of shipment, at the country's point of exit, by an official animal-quarantine officer of the country of origin, showing no fresh or healing wounds and no ectoparasites; and the crate was washed and disinfected before shipment with products authorised in the country of origin. The documents to present at the border of entry are the official sanitary export certificate, the health card issued by a veterinarian of the country of origin, and the passport. NOTE WHAT THAT LAST LIST OMITS — the import permit, the commercial invoice, the certificate of origin and the RUC that NTON 11005 and SENASA Perú both require. The sheet is not a complete account of what has to be produced at the border.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1]

Parasite treatment

Internal

Treatment against ENDOPARASITOS in the 30 days before shipment, using products authorised by the country of origin. IPSA's sheet names no product, active principle or class, and imposes no minimum efficacy or persistence.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,4]

External

Treatment against ECTOPARASITOS on the same terms and in the same window — numeral 4 treats the two as a single requirement, "tratamientos contra ENDOPARASITOS Y ECTOPARASITOS". Note that this one is checked twice: numeral 5 requires the animal to be inspected at the point of exit showing no ectoparasite presence, so a treated but visibly flea-bitten animal fails at departure and never gets to the Nicaraguan end at all.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,4]

Timing

Within the 30 days before the date of shipment ("En los 30 días previos a la fecha del embarque"). Counted to embarkation, not to arrival, so it survives a long passage intact — but note that it does NOT line up with the vaccination window, which is measured to the date of export, nor with the 29-day immunogen bar. Three different clocks, two different reference dates. Whether an antiparasitic counts as an "inmunogeno" for the purpose of the 29-day bar is not addressed; on the ordinary meaning it does not, and numeral 4 would be unsatisfiable if it did.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,4]

No source requires the treatment to be recorded on any particular document, but numeral 1 makes the health certificate the vehicle for attesting the numeral 3 immunisations, and the safest reading is that the antiparasitic treatment, its product and its date belong on the same certificate. Nothing states this expressly.^[1,2]

Identification

Microchip

Not required^[1,2,4]

Chip before rabies

No ordering requirement stated^[1,2]

NO IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT OF ANY KIND IS PUBLISHED. Neither IPSA's requirements sheet nor NTON 11005 nor SENASA Perú's mirror mentions a microchip, a tattoo, a chip standard, a reader, or any ordering between identification and vaccination. There is nothing here to comply with. Two cautions. First, the certificate has to identify the specific animal it covers, and NTON 11005 requires per-animal laboratory results, so in practice the animal has to be identifiable even though no method is prescribed — silence about the method is not permission to present an unidentified animal. Second, almost every onward destination in this dataset does require an ISO-standard chip, so an animal that satisfies Nicaragua without one can still be stranded at the next border; the chip is worth having regardless of what IPSA asks for.^[1,2,4]

Animals & vaccinations

Dogs

Min. age

NO MINIMUM AGE IS PUBLISHED, and it was specifically looked for in all three documents. Note though that the vaccination window imposes one arithmetically: an animal cannot be exported until at least 30 days after the five immunogens listed under vaccines were given, so a puppy too young to complete that course is too young to travel. No source states what that works out to, and nothing addresses an animal born aboard on passage.

Vaccinesconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,4]

RABIA (rabies)
DISTEMPER ó MOQUILLO CANINO (canine distemper)
HEPATITIS (canine hepatitis)
LEPTOPIROSIS [sic — IPSA's spelling of leptospirosis]
PARVOVIROSIS (parvovirus)

Cats

Min. age

NO MINIMUM AGE IS PUBLISHED, and it was specifically looked for in all three documents. Note though that the vaccination window imposes one arithmetically: an animal cannot be exported until at least 30 days after the immunogens listed under vaccines were given, so a kitten too young to be vaccinated is too young to travel. No source states what that works out to, and nothing addresses an animal born aboard on passage.

Vaccinesconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[4]

Rabia (rabies)
Panleucopenia felina (feline panleukopenia)

Other health requirements

Note

THE UNDEFINED LABORATORY REQUIREMENT IS THE BIG ONE, and it is NOT repeated as an item here — it is recorded under rabies_titer.threshold, because that is where a reader looks for blood tests. Read it before anything else on this page. In summary: NTON 11005 chapter 11 numeral 5 requires original per-animal laboratory results negative for "las enfermedades de interés sanitario, según la especie", from official or officially endorsed laboratories of the exporting country, and no source anywhere says which diseases those are for a dog or a cat. IPSA's requirements sheet lists no test at all, and the norm defers to a species list it never publishes. An obligation whose content is unpublished is itself the finding, and it is the reason this jurisdiction cannot be planned from the documents alone: it cannot be satisfied by guesswork, the results must be originals from an officially recognised laboratory, and it has to be settled with IPSA before the animal is anywhere near the boat. THE ARRIVAL PROCEDURE FOR THIS ROUTE IS UNDOCUMENTED, and that is why no arrival inspection is graded here. NTON 11005 does describe a documentary review and sanitary inspection on arrival at the border post, with sanitary measures applied if signs compatible with disease or lesions are found — but READ THE PLACEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE RELYING ON IT: that sentence sits in chapter 10 numeral 2, the chapter governing animals entering temporarily for competitions, fairs and exhibitions, which is expressly NOT the route a cruiser's pet takes. Chapter 11, the individual-import route, carries no equivalent sentence. What the items above record from chapter 11 is what chapter 11 actually says; the arrival inspection is not among it. THE SHOW ROUTE IS NOT THIS ROUTE. Chapter 10 of NTON 11005, "Requisitos para el ingreso temporal de animales para competencia, feria o exposición", is the only place in Nicaraguan law found here that names dogs and cats by species. It requires for dogs a certificate of vaccination against "Rabia, Parvovirus, Distemper, Adenovirus, Leptospira, Influenza y Hepatitis (vacuna séxtuple)" and for cats "Rabia y Panleucopenia felina", with at least eight working days' notice before the event, movement under seal and a retention order, and IPSA guaranteeing the animals' return to the exit quarantine post afterwards. A cruising animal is not entering for a competition, fair or exhibition, and that chapter's seven-vaccine canine list must NOT be imported into the general requirements above. It is described here only so that a reader who finds it does not mistake it for the pet rule.

Dogs: The health certificate must record that the animal was clinically examined and found in good health WITH NO EVIDENCE OF INFECTIOUS OR CONTAGIOUS DISEASE — "un certificado de salud emitido por un médico veterinario oficial o privado, en el que conste que el animal o los animales fueron examinados clínicamente y encontrados en buen estado de salud, sin evidencia de ENFERMEDADES INFECTO-CONTAGIOSA". An official or a private veterinarian may issue it.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1]
A PHYSICAL STANDARD, CHECKED ON THE WAY OUT RATHER THAN ON ARRIVAL: the animal must have been "inspeccionados al momento de su embarque, en el punto de salida del país, por un funcionario oficial de cuarentena animal del país de origen, no mostrando, HERIDAS FRESCAS O EN PROCESO DE CICATRIZACION, ni presencia de ECTOPARASITOS" — inspected at the moment of shipment, at the departing country's point of exit, by an official animal-quarantine officer of that country, showing no fresh or healing wounds and no ectoparasites. Fresh wounds and ectoparasites are the substance; who performs that inspection for a boat leaving an anchorage is the problem, and nothing addresses it.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1]
THE CRATE IS A REQUIREMENT, AND SO IS THERE BEING ONE: "La jaula o jaulas fueron lavados y desinfectadas previamente a la fecha de embarque del animal o los animales, utilizando productos autorizados por el país de origen" — the crate or crates were washed and disinfected before the date of shipment using products authorised by the country of origin. The requirement presupposes a crate; nothing contemplates an animal that simply walks off a boat.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1]
DOCUMENTS MUST BE CLEAN, SEALED AND SIGNED. NTON 11005 chapter 5 numeral 8: the documents presented "no deben contener borrones, tachaduras, correcciones o cualquier irregularidad que hagan dudar la validez del documento", and the sanitary certificate, certificate of origin and laboratory results "deben presentarse sellados y firmados" — no erasures, crossings-out, corrections or any irregularity casting doubt on validity, and sealed and signed.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]
SPANISH, NOT ENGLISH: "La documentación oficial para la importación de mercancías de origen animal e insumos pecuarios, debe estar en el idioma oficial del país importador" — the official import documentation must be in the official language of the importing country (NTON 11005 chapter 7 numeral 12). Chapter 12 numeral 8(b) repeats it for anything submitted for a risk analysis.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ARRIVE SHORT, in the norm's own terms. NTON 11005 chapter 11 numeral 9 sets out four measures for an importer who does not meet the requirements — retención, tratamiento, decomiso y destrucción, rechazo. The one that matters most to a cruiser is the cure window: retention applies "Por falta de documentación original que sea sub sanable, se otorgará un plazo no mayor de quince días calendarios, para presentarlos ante la Autoridad Nacional Competente. Cumplido este período se procederá a su rechazo y/o decomiso y destrucción" — missing but REMEDIABLE original documentation buys at most fifteen calendar days to produce it, after which rejection and/or seizure and destruction follow. Rejection applies outright where the documentary failure is "no subsanables" or the sanitary requirements are unmet. Breach of the norm is sanctioned under Ley No. 291, Ley Básica de Salud Animal y Sanidad Vegetal (chapter 14).confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]
THE COST OF ANY QUARANTINE MEASURE FALLS ON THE IMPORTER, with no right to compensation: "Los gastos ocasionados por la aplicación de cualquier medida cuarentenaria serán asumidas por el importador sin derecho a indemnización según lo establecido en la legislación vigente" (NTON 11005 chapter 11 numeral 11).confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]
NO BREED RESTRICTION of any kind was found in any of the three documents read for this file. Absence of a statement is not the same as a confirmed absence of a rule: Nicaragua's police and municipal law was not searched here, and that is where breed rules in this region usually live.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.
Cats: The health certificate must record that the animal was clinically examined and found in good health WITH NO EVIDENCE OF INFECTIOUS OR CONTAGIOUS DISEASE — "un certificado de salud emitido por un médico veterinario oficial o privado, en el que conste que el animal o los animales fueron examinados clínicamente y encontrados en buen estado de salud, sin evidencia de ENFERMEDADES INFECTO-CONTAGIOSA". An official or a private veterinarian may issue it.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1]
A PHYSICAL STANDARD, CHECKED ON THE WAY OUT RATHER THAN ON ARRIVAL: the animal must have been "inspeccionados al momento de su embarque, en el punto de salida del país, por un funcionario oficial de cuarentena animal del país de origen, no mostrando, HERIDAS FRESCAS O EN PROCESO DE CICATRIZACION, ni presencia de ECTOPARASITOS" — inspected at the moment of shipment, at the departing country's point of exit, by an official animal-quarantine officer of that country, showing no fresh or healing wounds and no ectoparasites. Fresh wounds and ectoparasites are the substance; who performs that inspection for a boat leaving an anchorage is the problem, and nothing addresses it.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1]
THE CRATE IS A REQUIREMENT, AND SO IS THERE BEING ONE: "La jaula o jaulas fueron lavados y desinfectadas previamente a la fecha de embarque del animal o los animales, utilizando productos autorizados por el país de origen" — the crate or crates were washed and disinfected before the date of shipment using products authorised by the country of origin. The requirement presupposes a crate; nothing contemplates an animal that simply walks off a boat.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1]
DOCUMENTS MUST BE CLEAN, SEALED AND SIGNED. NTON 11005 chapter 5 numeral 8: the documents presented "no deben contener borrones, tachaduras, correcciones o cualquier irregularidad que hagan dudar la validez del documento", and the sanitary certificate, certificate of origin and laboratory results "deben presentarse sellados y firmados" — no erasures, crossings-out, corrections or any irregularity casting doubt on validity, and sealed and signed.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]
SPANISH, NOT ENGLISH: "La documentación oficial para la importación de mercancías de origen animal e insumos pecuarios, debe estar en el idioma oficial del país importador" — the official import documentation must be in the official language of the importing country (NTON 11005 chapter 7 numeral 12). Chapter 12 numeral 8(b) repeats it for anything submitted for a risk analysis.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ARRIVE SHORT, in the norm's own terms. NTON 11005 chapter 11 numeral 9 sets out four measures for an importer who does not meet the requirements — retención, tratamiento, decomiso y destrucción, rechazo. The one that matters most to a cruiser is the cure window: retention applies "Por falta de documentación original que sea sub sanable, se otorgará un plazo no mayor de quince días calendarios, para presentarlos ante la Autoridad Nacional Competente. Cumplido este período se procederá a su rechazo y/o decomiso y destrucción" — missing but REMEDIABLE original documentation buys at most fifteen calendar days to produce it, after which rejection and/or seizure and destruction follow. Rejection applies outright where the documentary failure is "no subsanables" or the sanitary requirements are unmet. Breach of the norm is sanctioned under Ley No. 291, Ley Básica de Salud Animal y Sanidad Vegetal (chapter 14).confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]
THE COST OF ANY QUARANTINE MEASURE FALLS ON THE IMPORTER, with no right to compensation: "Los gastos ocasionados por la aplicación de cualquier medida cuarentenaria serán asumidas por el importador sin derecho a indemnización según lo establecido en la legislación vigente" (NTON 11005 chapter 11 numeral 11).confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]

Sources

1
Perro o Gatos — requisitos generales de importación, Cuarentena Animal (undated PDF; two pages; no reference number or signature) — Instituto de Protección y Sanidad Agropecuaria (IPSA) — Dirección de Cuarentena Agropecuaria, Departamento de Cuarentena Animal
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
2
NTON 11005:2022 — Norma Técnica Obligatoria Nicaragüense, Medidas Sanitarias. Mercancías e Insumos Pecuarios. Importación (La Gaceta No. 90 of 23/05/2023; in force 180 days after publication; derogates NTON 11 034-12) — Ministerio de Fomento, Industria y Comercio / Instituto de Protección y Sanidad Agropecuaria (IPSA) — published in La Gaceta, Diario Oficial No. 90
legalAccessed 2026-08-13Published 2023-05-23in ES — translated herearchived copy
3
Cuarentena Agropecuaria — funciones, contactos y Puestos Fronterizos (roster of the ten Puestos de Cuarentena Agropecuaria with responsible officer and email) — Instituto de Protección y Sanidad Agropecuaria (IPSA) — Dirección de Cuarentena Agropecuaria
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
4
Requisitos sanitarios para el ingreso de perros y gatos a Nicaragua (Peruvian restatement of Nicaraguan requirements; separate caninos and felinos sections) — Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agraria del Perú (SENASA Perú)
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy

Last checked August 2026 · 3 high-priority open questions · Sources & questions

What the dots mean

confidence: AI-vetted. An AI read the cited document and quoted the text it found; where the wording differed from ours, an AI judged the two equivalent. Not yet checked by a human — read the quote. AI read the source and judged the match, awaiting human reviewconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer. official-backed, awaiting human reviewconfidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet. not yet documented· How we grade