Central America and Mexico

Panama

Import permit neededRabies vaccine neededVet certificate within 30 days of arrivalQuarantine: sources disagree

Before you sail

Import permit
Rabies vaccine at least 30 days before arrival; at least 3 months old when vaccinated
Veterinary health certificate issued within 30 days of arrival, endorsed by the exporting country's veterinary authority
Parasite treatment — internal and external
Quarantine — sources disagree whether it is required
Dogs vaccinated against: Rabia (rabies), Distemper (canine distemper), Hepatitis (canine hepatitis), Leptospirosis, Parvovirus
Cats vaccinated against: Rabia (rabies), Rinotraqueítis viral felina (feline viral rhinotracheitis), Calicivirus felino (feline calicivirus), Panleucopenia felina (feline panleukopenia)

Not requiredMicrochip

Not documented Rabies titer test

Fees

Permit

B/.10.00 in cash for the Licencia Fito-zoosanitaria de Importación, one licence per species. Legal basis Ley N°23 de 15 de julio de 1997.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,2]

Inspection

MIDA: B/.15.00 in cash for the veterinary inspection, per animal. MINSA: B/.40.00 in cash per animal for "Ingreso de animales menores e inspección veterinaria", on the legal basis of Decreto Ejecutivo N°4 de 5 de febrero de 2026 and Resolución Ministerial N°183 de 20 de agosto de 2001. Both are charged; they are not alternatives. Everything is stated as payable "en efectivo" — in cash — and no source mentions cards or transfers at the point of entry.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,2]

Other

MINSA's strict home quarantine is B/.130.00 in cash per animal, and it REPLACES the B/.40.00 above rather than adding to it: the joint sheet reads "Ingreso de animales menores e inspección veterinaria: B/. 40 … O B/. 130.00 en efectivo en caso de requerir Cuarentena domiciliaria estricta" — B/.40 or B/.130, not both. MIDA's B/.10 licence and B/.15 inspection are separate from either, because they are a different ministry. Decreto 1132 article 12 separately sets B/.10.00 admission to the Cuarentena Nacional and B/.3.00 daily for care in the cages, payable fortnightly in advance, with article 13 treating two consecutive fortnights' arrears as abandonment of the animal. Out-of-hours veterinary attention is governed by Decreto 25 de 31 de enero de 2002, article 5, Gaceta Oficial No. 24488, with no amount published. DECA's tariffs for quarantine treatments were updated by Decreto Ejecutivo N°3 published in the Gaceta Oficial on 23 March 2026.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2,3,5,9,6]

DO NOT USE THE FIGURES ON MIDA'S OLDER "Requisitos para la importación de perros y gatos" PAGE. That page, still published, quotes B/.1.00 for the licence application form, B/.5.00 for the phytozoosanitary licence, B/.10.00 for the veterinary inspection and B/.3.50 a day for quarantine custody, a dog vaccine list with no cat list at all, and veterinary hours of Monday to Friday 07:00 to 23:00. Every one of those figures is superseded by the DECA page and the joint March 2026 sheet. It is cited on this page for exactly one thing — the after-hours reference to Decreto 25 de 2002 — and nothing else in it is recorded here.^[9,1,2]

Timeline

30 days – arrivalVeterinary health certificate issued in this window
30 days before arrivalRabies vaccine given by now at the latest
ArrivalPresent the permit and certificate; clear the animal before going ashore.

On arrival & aboard

At the dock: THE PROCEDURE IS WRITTEN FOR AN AIRPORT, AND THE ONE SENTENCE THAT ISN'T IS THE ONE TO ARGUE FROM. The joint sheet is headed "AEROPUERTO INTERNACIONAL DE TOCUMEN"; the DECA page's step-by-step is "Pasos a seguir en Panamá – Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen"; MINSA's forms ask for a flight number and its office is at Tocumen; and the failure clause returns the animal by "la aerolínea utilizada en su arribo". Against that, MIDA's November 2025 guidance says arrivals are handled "en aeropuertos, puertos o fronteras" — at airports, PORTS or borders — and DECA's own published functions include inspection and surveillance "en aeropuertos, puertos marítimos, puestos fronterizos y puestos de control interno nacionales" and inspecting "todo vehículo que ingrese al país por vía terrestre, marítima o aérea". DECA also has real people on the Caribbean coast: Colón administrative offices, Puerto de Cristóbal including a boarding desk ("Cristóbal Abordaje"), Puerto de Manzanillo, and in Bocas del Toro province at Guabito and Almirante. NONE OF THAT MAKES THEM ANIMAL ENTRY POINTS. Every one of those offices sits inside a commercial cargo terminal or at a land crossing, not at Shelter Bay, not at Bocas town, not at an anchorage; not one readable cited document names a Caribbean-side entry point for a dog or cat, and Decreto 1132 — cited everywhere as the legal basis, and said to name three points for minor animals in its article 3 — could not be read, because the Gaceta scan has no text layer, so that list is unchecked here and Ciudad de Panamá is no longer carried above on the strength of it; and no document found here describes how a crew arriving by yacht presents an animal, whether an inspector attends the vessel, or how the cash fees are paid outside an airport. The offices listed above are where DECA has staff, not a list of approved yacht entry points for an animal — do not read them as the latter.

Quarantine

Required^[4,3,2,1]

Duration

40 days (Forty days, from the undertaking every owner signs: "Mantener dentro de los predios de su domicilio a la mascota por cuarenta días (40)" — keep the pet within the premises of your domicile for forty days. Nothing states what starts the count, what ends it early, or what extends it.)^[3]

Evidence for Duration

Mantener dentro de los predios de su domicilio a la mascota por cuarenta días (40).

Where it is served

A domicile in Panama, declared in advance on MINSA's form by name, ID or passport, address, province, district and corregimiento. The undertaking binds the owner to keep the animal within the premises of that address for the forty days, to prevent contact with domestic or wild species throughout, to keep it in hygienic conditions, to follow a veterinarian's immunisation and prevention programme, and to report any change in the animal's behaviour to Zoonosis. "El médico veterinario de la Cuarentena de Animales Menores realizará la vigilancia del (los) animal (les) de acuerdo al riesgo epidemiológico" — the quarantine veterinarian carries out surveillance according to epidemiological risk. WHETHER A VESSEL CAN BE THE DOMICILIO IS NOT ADDRESSED ANYWHERE. The form has no field a berth fits into, and forty days of no contact with domestic or wild animals is a different proposition on a marina dock than behind a garden wall. This is the single most consequential gap on this file for a liveaboard.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[3,4]

What it costs, and who pays

B/.130.00 per animal, in cash, paid on arrival — "El costo en concepto de la cuarentena domiciliaria es de B/.130.00 dólares, por animal y debe ser cancelado en efectivo." That is MINSA's charge and it is separate from MIDA's licence and inspection fees. Decreto 1132 article 12 additionally sets B/.10.00 for admission of each animal to the Cuarentena Nacional and B/.3.00 a day for its care in the cages at the points of entry and in quarantine, payable fortnightly in advance; article 13 treats two consecutive fortnights in arrears as abandonment, after which the State may dispose of the animal. Those two figures belong to the kennel regime, not to the forty days at home, and no current sheet repeats them. MIDA's 2026 documents price the same quarantine as an alternative to MINSA's B/.40.00 entry charge rather than an addition to it — see fees.other.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[3,5,2,1]

If your papers are not in order

THE TWO MINISTRIES DO NOT AGREE ON WHETHER IT IS AUTOMATIC. MINSA's own procedure page presents the home-quarantine request as the notification every arriving pet needs — the form "deben hacer llegar como mínimo con tres días de anticipación a la llegada de la mascota a Panamá" — and its information sheet has only one procedure in it, headed "PROCEDIMIENTO PARA EL TRÁMITE DE LA CUARENTENA DOMICILIARIA", with the B/.130.00 charge stated flatly. Both of MIDA's 2026 documents read differently — the joint MIDA/MINSA sheet updated March 2026, and DECA's import page as rewritten under Decreto Ejecutivo N°4 de 5 de febrero de 2026: B/.40.00 per animal for "Ingreso de animales menores e inspección veterinaria", "O B/. 130.00 en efectivo en caso de requerir Cuarentena domiciliaria estricta" — or B/.130.00 IF strict home quarantine is required. DECA's page used to tell every owner to send the "Solicitud de Cuarentena Domiciliaria"; by October 2026 it asks instead for a "Solicitud de Ingreso de Perros, Gatos y Hurones". So the newer documents treat quarantine as conditional and do not say on what, while MINSA, which runs it, still presents it as automatic. This file grades it conflicting rather than resolving the divergence. Behind both sits Decreto 1132 article 11, which is the default they are relaxing: every minor animal introduced through the authorised points "será internado en la Cuarentena Nacional del Ministerio de Salud por un período no menor de ciento ochenta (180) días" — interned in the state quarantine for not less than 180 days. Resolución Ministerial 183 de 20 de agosto de 2001 is the instrument that "autoriza la cuarentena domiciliaria para los animales menores".confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[4,3,2,1,5]

If the animal stays aboard

Import rules apply

Not yet documented

Permit required

Not yet documented

Note: THERE IS A SECTION CALLED "PASO DE ANIMALES" AND IT IS TWO ARTICLES LONG. The ACP's Reglamento de Sanidad y Prevención de Enfermedades Contagiosas (Acuerdo No. 297 de 23 de junio de 2016), Sección Octava — Artículo 36: "El buque que transporte animales vivos o sacrificados y sus derivados que haya de ingresar al país, deberá someterse a las medidas de salud de la República de Panamá." Artículo 37: "El buque en tránsito que transporte animales vivos o sacrificados y sus derivados estarán sujetos a lo establecido en el procedimiento específico que adopte al efecto la Autoridad." In English: a vessel carrying live or slaughtered animals and their derivatives that IS TO ENTER THE COUNTRY must submit to the health measures of the Republic of Panama; a vessel IN TRANSIT carrying them is subject to whatever specific procedure the Authority adopts for the purpose. The distinction a cruiser cares about is drawn — entering versus transiting — and then article 37 points at a document. No such specific procedure was found published on pancanal.com, and the ACP's own booklet for small-craft transits (Trámites para Garantizar el Tránsito de Embarcaciones Menores) never mentions animals, pets, MIDA or MINSA at all. THREE FURTHER THINGS THE SAME REGULATION DOES SAY. First, "buque" is defined in the companion navigation regulation as any self-propelled vessel, and an "embarcación menor" is a buque up to 38.1 metres, so a cruising yacht is inside all of this. Second, article 14: "Se prohíbe el embarque o desembarque de personas, animales o cosas antes de la inspección y hasta tanto se haya otorgado la plática" — no person, ANIMAL or thing may be landed or taken aboard before inspection and pratique, except the pilot and anyone authorised by the Authority or by the competent health or veterinary authority. Third, article 8(4) makes a vessel that would otherwise be exempt from health inspection inspectable on arrival in Canal waters if it "lleva a bordo un animal u objeto que no cumpla con los requisitos contenidos en este Reglamento" — carries aboard an animal that does not comply. Every vessel also files a "Declaración de cuarentena y sanidad" among the twelve items the navigation regulation's article 41 requires at least ninety-six hours before arrival in Canal waters, and the small-craft booklet's electronic flow includes that quarantine questionnaire; neither document says whether an animal aboard has to be declared on it, and no animal item appears in article 41's list. AND THEN THERE IS THE DECREE. Decreto 1132 article 10: "Todo animal menor en tránsito en los puntos autorizados en el presente decreto será retenido por los Inspectores de Cuarentena Agropecuaria por un período no mayor de 48 horas; y si transcurrido ese término no ha sido reembarcado la autoridad de salud procederá a su sacrificio." An animal in transit at an authorised point is held by quarantine inspectors for no more than 48 hours, and if it has not been re-shipped by then the health authority proceeds to destroy it. Read what that governs: an animal AT a customs point, not one that never leaves a boat. Article 9 is the only text found anywhere that puts animals and the Canal in one sentence — "Todo animal menor... que sea introducido a la Zona del Canal, no podrá ser trasladado a otro punto de la República de Panamá si antes no ha pasado el período cuarentenario establecido en el presente decreto" — and it is addressed to the Canal Zone, a territory that ceased to exist in 1979 and reverted entirely in 1999. NOTHING STATES whether an animal aboard a yacht transiting from Cristóbal to Balboa has entered Panama, whether the thirty-day apostilled certificate must exist for it, whether the forty-day home quarantine is triggered, or what happens if the boat stops at Shelter Bay or the Flats anchorage on the way. Given how many boats transit with an animal aboard, that silence is the most important thing on this page after the entry points.

Open questions

High priority

HIGH PRIORITY — can a yacht be the "domicilio" for the forty-day home quarantine? MINSA's form requires a Panamanian address by province, district and corregimiento, and the undertaking binds the owner to keep the animal within its premises for forty days with no contact with domestic or wild species, under veterinary surveillance. Nothing says whether a marina berth qualifies, what happens if the boat moves or hauls out, who inspects, or what the consequence of leaving the declared address is. For a liveaboard this is the difference between an inconvenience and a forty-day hotel bill.
HIGH PRIORITY — is the home quarantine automatic or conditional? MINSA's live procedure page and its forms treat the Solicitud de Cuarentena Domiciliaria as the notification every arriving pet files, and state the B/.130.00 charge flatly. The joint MIDA/MINSA sheet updated March 2026, and DECA's import page since its 2026 rewrite, say B/.40.00 for entry and inspection "O B/. 130.00 en efectivo en caso de requerir Cuarentena domiciliaria estricta" — or B/.130.00 IF strict home quarantine is required — without saying what triggers it. Establish which document Tocumen and any maritime office actually work from, and what an animal has to do or fail to be sent home rather than quarantined.
HIGH PRIORITY — the Canal. The ACP's Reglamento de Sanidad, article 37, makes a vessel in transit carrying live animals subject to "el procedimiento específico que adopte al efecto la Autoridad", and that specific procedure was not found published anywhere. Ask the ACP for it by name. Ask, concretely, whether an animal aboard a yacht transiting Cristóbal to Balboa is treated as entering Panama; whether the apostilled certificate and the forty-day quarantine are triggered; whether the animal must be declared on the quarantine and sanitation declaration filed before arrival in Canal waters; and what changes if the boat lies at Shelter Bay, the Flats or Gamboa overnight rather than transiting in one day.

Also open

HIGHEST PRIORITY — where on the Caribbean coast may an animal lawfully be landed? Decreto 1132 article 3, which both ministries still cite as their legal basis, names only Ciudad de Panamá, Tocumen and Paso Canoa, and article 8 provides for the destruction of an animal introduced at any unauthorised point. MIDA's 2025 guidance says arrivals are handled at airports, ports or borders, and DECA has staffed offices at Colón, Cristóbal, Manzanillo, Guabito and Almirante. Nothing published reconciles the two. Ask DECA in writing, before sailing, whether a dog or cat may be cleared in at Shelter Bay or Colón, at Bocas del Toro, or anywhere in Guna Yala, and get the answer in writing. This decides whether a Caribbean landfall with an animal aboard is possible at all.
Decreto 1132 contains two provisions that are plainly out of date and have never been formally corrected. Article 9 governs animals introduced into "la Zona del Canal", a territory abolished in 1979 and reverted in 1999; article 8 assigns the enforcement duty to the Guardia Nacional, dissolved in 1990. Ask MINSA's legal office whether the decree has been amended, which body now exercises the article 8 duty, and whether article 9 is treated as spent — the answer to the last one bears directly on the Canal question above.
MIDA and MINSA state the rabies rule differently. MIDA requires the vaccine from three months of age and thirty days before travel, and for adults that vaccines be within validity; MINSA requires a current rabies vaccination only "en perros y gatos mayores de 4 meses", dogs and cats over four months. Both ministries inspect the same animal at the same counter. Confirm which applies to an animal between three and four months old, and whether an adult given a first-ever rabies vaccine falls under the thirty-day interval.
The apostille is the step a boat cannot improvise. Confirm whether MIDA will accept a certificate legalised in the country where the animal has been cruising rather than where it is registered or resident; which authority is the "Autoridad Sanitaria del país de procedencia" for an animal that lives aboard; whether "procedencia" means last port cleared, country of residence or flag state; and whether an e-Apostille is accepted. Establish this before departure — it cannot be fixed on arrival.
Guna Yala is autonomous and its own maritime regulation does not mention animals. The Congreso General Guna's Reglamento de Transporte Marítimo requires foreign yachts to file an entry registration (article 75) listing owner and crew identity, vessel ownership, reason and length of visit and migration papers (article 76) — no animal, health or veterinary item appears in it — and article 78 obliges recreational vessels entering the comarca's waters or special tourist ports "a respetar las normas comarcales y nacionales de sanidad y medio ambiente", to respect comarcal AND NATIONAL health and environmental norms. So the comarca points back at national rules rather than displacing them, and adds no animal formality of its own. What is unresolved is administration: the regulation names control posts at Gaigirgordub, Armali, Niga Kantule, Dibin, Barsuggun and Aggwadub, using Guna place names, and no MIDA or MINSA presence anywhere in the comarca appears in DECA's directory. Ask the Secretaría de Transporte Marítimo whether the post cruisers know as El Porvenir handles animals at all, and ask DECA who inspects an animal aboard a boat registering into Guna Yala. Note also article 85 — a yacht using the comarca's waters as a place of passage for not more than seven days holds a permiso de tránsito — which is a Guna transit permit and says nothing about animals.
No document read here describes how a private vessel does any of this. Every published step assumes an airline: the notification form asks for flight number and airline, the failure clause returns the animal by the airline used on arrival, the fees are payable in cash at Tocumen, and animals arriving out of hours wait in the airport kennels. Establish who inspects a yacht's animal, where, at what hours, and how B/.10.00, B/.15.00, B/.40.00 and B/.130.00 in cash are paid outside an airport terminal.
No breed prohibition was found and none is recorded. Neither ministry mentions breed and Decreto 1132 does not. Panamanian legislation was not searched exhaustively for a dangerous-dogs statute, and the region's bans usually sit in a police or public-order code rather than in the sanitary rules — see Colombia, where the prohibition is statutory and the agriculture institute's own sheet cites it wrongly. Confirm with DECA that no breed is barred and that none is treated as barred in practice, because the absence of a published ban is not the same as a published permission.
No microchip, tattoo or permanent identification is required and none is mentioned anywhere. Confirm this rather than relying on it, and chip the animal regardless — almost every onward destination in this dataset requires one, and an animal admitted to Panama without a chip may be stranded at the next border.

About this page’s sources

Decreto Ejecutivo N°305 de 3 de octubre de 2001, which MIDA cites for the rabies age and interval, was not retrieved and its text is not recorded here; nor were Resolución Ministerial N°183 de 20 de agosto de 2001, Decreto Ejecutivo N°4 de 5 de febrero de 2026 or Decreto 25 de 31 de enero de 2002. All four are cited by the ministries as the basis for figures in this file. Retrieve them and confirm the figures against the instruments rather than the summaries.
Decreto 1132 was read from a photographic facsimile of Gaceta Oficial No. 16,690 by OCR, because the scan carries no text layer. The substance of articles 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16 and 19 is quoted here on that basis. Before anything in this file is promoted above `inferred`, a human should read the facsimile pages directly and confirm the wording, the article numbers and in particular the figures — 180 days, 48 hours, B/.10.00 and B/.3.00.

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 2026-10-06 Recently checkedfreshness: Recently checked. Sources were last re-read 6 days ago, well inside the 180-day window. Recent is not reviewed — this page is still an unreviewed draft.

Evidence

Import permit

Permit

Required^[1,2]

What it costs

B/.10.00 in cash for the "Licencia Fito-zoosanitaria de Importación", and MIDA is specific that it is "(1) una licencia por especie" — one licence per SPECIES, so a dog and a cat need two, but two dogs need one. The published fee schedule lists it among the "Costos de los trámites" payable in cash on arrival rather than as something applied for in advance; nothing states a deadline for obtaining it, an application form for it, or an online route to it. A further B/.15.00 in cash is charged per animal for the veterinary inspection. Do not use SITERPA for this — SITERPA's "MASCOTAS" button issues the EXPORT licence, for animals leaving Panama, and is not an import channel.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,2]

Email: tramitezoo@mida.gob.pa
Phone: +507 238-4234
Official page: https://mida.gob.pa/direcciones/deca/introduccion-de-animales-menores-a-la-republica-de-panama/

Rabies

Vaccination

Required^[1,2,3]

Min. age at vaccination

90 days (Three months. "La vacuna antirrábica para caninos, felinos y hurones ha sido aplicada a partir de los tres (3) meses de edad" — the rabies vaccine must have been given from three months of age. MIDA attributes the rule to Decreto Ejecutivo N°305 de 3 de octubre de 2001, which was not retrieved here. Combined with the thirty-day pre-travel interval this puts the earliest realistic travel age at about four months, which is also the age at which MINSA's sheet starts requiring a current rabies vaccination at all ("en perros y gatos mayores de 4 meses"). Note that MINSA's phrasing implies an animal under four months needs no rabies vaccine while MIDA's implies it needs one from three months; both ministries inspect. Graded CONFLICTING for that reason: the two agencies that will both look at your paperwork do not state the same age, and this file does not pick one.)^[1,2,3]

Min. before travel

30 days (Thirty days before TRAVEL, not before arrival: "con treinta (30) días previos al viaje (cachorros)". MIDA attaches the interval to young animals — the parenthesis reads "cachorros", puppies and kittens — and for adult animals asks only that "las vacunas estén dentro del periodo de vigencia", that the vaccinations be within their validity. Nothing states whether an adult given a first-ever rabies vaccine falls under the thirty days or under the validity rule, and the safe reading is the thirty days.)^[1,2]

Max. before travel

same day (No fixed ceiling is published. The rule for adult animals is that "las vacunas estén dentro del periodo de vigencia" — the vaccines must be within their own validity period — and the vaccination card must carry the brand, batch and expiry date so that validity can be read off it. On the face of that a three-year product still inside its stated validity qualifies, but no source says so and no source names an approved vaccine type, manufacturer or list.)^[1,2]

Boosters, and what the certificate must show

The vaccination card must state "las fechas de vacunación, marca, lote y fecha de expiración" — vaccination dates, brand, batch and expiry — for the vaccinations required, so a bare "rabies, in date" line will not do. No inactivated-vaccine requirement, no approved-product list and no titre are imposed for entry. Separately, and as a DOMESTIC duty on people living in Panama rather than an import condition, Decreto 1132 article 19 obliges every owner or keeper of a minor animal to vaccinate it against rabies every three years and to carry the tag evidencing it, and to muzzle and leash a dog taken into the street. A boat wintering in Panama with a dog ashore is inside the reach of that article even though it says nothing about entry.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,2,5]

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

Panama publishes no rabies antibody titre requirement for entry. No threshold, laboratory, waiting period or serology of any kind appears in MIDA's or MINSA's entry material or in Decreto 1132, and none is recorded here. Do not read the silence as a guarantee — read it as the absence of a published requirement, which is what it is. Note also that the forty-day home quarantine is imposed regardless of vaccination status, so a titre would buy nothing even if one were offered.

Veterinary health certificate

Certificate

Required^[1,2,3]

Evidence for Certificate

Documento oficial “Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación”, expedido por la Autoridad Sanitaria del país de procedencia, legalizados mediante “Apostillado” por Cancillería o Consularizado en oficinas diplomáticas panameñas con un máximo de treinta (30) días de emisión, donde conste que las mascotas (Perros, gatos y hurones) han sido examinados clínicamente presentando buen estado de salud.

Completed within

30 days (THIRTY DAYS FROM ISSUE, AND THE APOSTILLE HAS TO FIT INSIDE IT. An apostille is a certificate your own country's foreign ministry attaches to a document so that another country will accept it as genuine; consularization is the older equivalent, done at the destination's embassy, and Panama takes either. MIDA requires the Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación legalised by apostille or consularization "con un máximo de treinta (30) días de emisión" — a maximum of thirty days from issue. MIDA does not say what date the thirty days are counted to; MINSA requires the apostilled certificate to be "dentro del periodo de vigencia" when it is handed to the Zoonosis veterinarian on arrival, so in practice the clock runs from the official veterinarian's signature to the day you present it. MIDA's November 2025 guidance also asks for a Certificado de Buena Salud from a licensed veterinarian with its own thirty-day maximum; neither 2026 document mentions it, but carrying one costs a vet visit and answers either reading. Neither window has any allowance for time spent on passage.)^[1,2,7,8]

Evidence for Completed within

Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación, emitido por la autoridad sanitaria oficial del país de procedencia, con legalización mediante apostillado o consularización, y con una vigencia máxima de 30 días.

Gov. endorsement

Required^[1,2,3,7]

Evidence for Gov. endorsement

Este documento debe estar debidamente Apostillado o Consularizado en oficinas diplomáticas panameñas y tener una vigencia máxima de 30 días.

Form: Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación — issued by the official sanitary authority of the country of departure, apostilled or consularized, maximum 30 days from issue. Called "Certificado de Sanidad Animal de Exportación de Pequeñas Especies" in MINSA's own sheet; the two ministries are describing the same document., Certificado de Buena Salud — issued by a licensed veterinarian ("médico veterinario idóneo"), maximum 30 days from issue for entry. Named by MIDA's 2025 press guidance, not by the DECA page or the joint sheet., Cartilla de vacunación — the vaccination card, stating dates, brand, batch number and expiry for each vaccine., Solicitud de Ingreso de Perros, Gatos y Hurones — sent with the certificate and vaccination card 3 to 5 working days before arrival, to cam@minsa.gob.pa., Solicitud de Cuarentena Domiciliaria (MINSA formato Nº2) plus the Compromiso de Cuarentena Domiciliaria (formato Nº3) — the home-quarantine request and undertaking, filed at least 3 working days before arrival. The request form asks for the flight number and airline.

Arriving by sea

None found, in either ministry's material or in Decreto 1132. There is no extension, exception or allowance for time spent on passage, and no separate procedure for an animal arriving on a private vessel. What the documents do contain is the opposite: the consequence of failing the requirements is written as "el animal será retenido y/o devuelto por la aerolínea utilizada en su arribo" — retained and/or returned by the AIRLINE used on arrival — and Decreto 1132 article 16 puts the same duty on "la compañía transportadora", the transport company. Who that is when the animal arrived on its owner's own boat is not addressed anywhere: there is no carrier separate from the owner, and nothing says whether the duty falls on the skipper, on nobody, or whether the absence of a carrier is itself a problem. The whole published procedure is drafted for an air arrival at Tocumen.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,2,5]

What the certificate must say

MIDA/MINSA, "A. REQUISITOS PARA LA INTRODUCCIÓN DE ANIMALES MENORES AL PAÍS (Perros, Gatos y hurones)": "Documento oficial 'Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación', expedido por la Autoridad Sanitaria del país de procedencia, legalizados mediante 'Apostillado' por Cancillería o Consularizado en oficinas diplomáticas panameñas con un máximo de treinta (30) días de emisión, donde conste que las mascotas (Perros, gatos y hurones) han sido examinados clínicamente presentando buen estado de salud. Es obligatorio que antes del viaje los animales estén vacunados contra las siguientes enfermedades... La vacuna antirrábica para caninos, felinos y hurones ha sido aplicada a partir de los tres (3) meses de edad y con treinta (30) días previos al viaje (cachorros). Y en los animales adultos las vacunas estén dentro del periodo de vigencia... Indicar las fechas de vacunación, marca, lote y fecha de expiración en su cartilla de vacunación. Indicar los tratamientos endo y ectoparasitarios realizados previos al embarque. Los animales no presenten heridas frescas o en proceso de cicatrización." — In English: an official "Export Zoosanitary Certificate" issued by the sanitary authority of the country of departure, legalised by apostille through that country's foreign ministry or consularized at a Panamanian diplomatic office, no more than thirty days from issue, recording that the pets (dogs, cats and ferrets) have been clinically examined and are in good health; the animals must be vaccinated before travel against the listed diseases; the rabies vaccine must have been given from three months of age and at least thirty days before travel for young animals, and for adults the vaccines must be within their validity; the vaccination card must state the vaccination dates, brand, batch and expiry; the internal and external antiparasitic treatments given before shipment must be stated; and the animals must not show fresh or healing wounds. MINSA states the certificate requirement in its own words — "Certificado de Sanidad Animal de Exportación de Pequeñas Especies expedido por la Autoridad Sanitaria del país de procedencia, donde conste que el animal goza de buena salud y la vacuna contra la rabia esté vigente en perros y gatos mayores de 4 meses" — a certificate showing good health and a current rabies vaccination in dogs and cats over four months old.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,2,3]

Parasite treatment

Internal

Required, and required to be STATED on the certificate: "Indicar los tratamientos endo y ectoparasitarios realizados previos al embarque" — state the internal and external antiparasitic treatments carried out before shipment. No product, active principle, class or efficacy is specified.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2,1,7]

External

The same requirement, in the same sentence — MIDA treats endo- and ectoparasitic treatment as one obligation. No tick or tapeworm-specific treatment is singled out and no persistence period is imposed.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2,1,7]

Timing

"Previos al embarque" — before shipment, with NO interval given. There is no minimum and no maximum: nothing says the treatment must be at least 24 hours or at most 14 days before departure, only that it must have happened and must be recorded. Contrast Colombia's explicit 60 days and the 14-day norm across the Windwards; Panama simply does not date it. Record product, active principle and date anyway, because an inspector working to a stricter reading has nothing in the Panamanian text to be contradicted with.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2,1,7,5]

MIDA's 2025 guidance folds the treatments into the Certificado de Buena Salud rather than the zoosanitary certificate — the health certificate "debe confirmar que la mascota ha sido examinada clínicamente, goza de buen estado de salud, no presenta heridas, y se han realizado tratamientos endo y ectoparasitarios previos". A certificate that carries the treatment details on both documents satisfies either reading.^[7,2]

Identification

Microchip

Not required^[2,5,3]

Chip before rabies

No ordering requirement stated^[2,5]

NO MICROCHIP IS REQUIRED and none is mentioned. Neither ministry's material nor Decreto 1132 asks for electronic identification, a tattoo, or any permanent identifier, and no ISO standard is named. Nothing states an order between identification and vaccination because there is nothing to order. Two cautions. First, this is unusual for the region and worth confirming rather than relying on. Second, and more practically: almost every onward destination in this dataset does require a chip, and an animal that satisfies Panama without one may be stranded at the next border — chip it anyway.^[2,5,3]

Animals & vaccinations

Dogs

Vaccinesconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,2]

Rabia (rabies)
Distemper (canine distemper)
Hepatitis (canine hepatitis)
Leptospirosis
Parvovirus

Cats

Vaccinesconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[1,2]

Rabia (rabies)
Rinotraqueítis viral felina (feline viral rhinotracheitis)
Calicivirus felino (feline calicivirus)
Panleucopenia felina (feline panleukopenia)

Other health requirements

Note

THE ARRIVAL CHECK IS DESCRIBED AS A SEARCHING ONE. MIDA says its veterinary staff carry out "una rigurosa verificación documental y una minuciosa revisión física del animal" — a rigorous documentary check and a meticulous physical examination — which is the colour behind arrival_procedures.veterinary_inspection rather than a separate requirement. FERRETS ARE IN SCOPE, and this schema has nowhere to put them: Panama regulates "animales menores" as dogs, cats AND ferrets, with rabies the only vaccine required of a ferret. Decreto 1132 article 2 is cited in the Panamanian material as casting the net wider still — "se consideran animales menores aquellos caninos, felinos u otros susceptibles de trasmitir la rabia, a juicio de la autoridad de salud", canines, felines or others capable of transmitting rabies in the judgement of the health authority — so a rabbit or a parrot is not automatically outside the regime. That quotation could not be checked against the decree itself, whose only published facsimile carries no text layer; MINSA's own sheet describes Decreto 1132 as establishing the national quarantine of animales menores and the requirements for bringing dogs and cats into the country, and no more. EXPORT IS A DIFFERENT PROCEDURE AND DIFFERENT NUMBERS — do not mix them, and nothing below is an entry requirement. To take an animal OUT of Panama, MIDA issues a Licencia Fitozoosanitaria de Exportación: apply through the SITERPA portal's red "MASCOTAS" button, note the application number, then collect the licence in person at Plaza Edison ground floor in Panama City or the offices in Herrera or Chiriquí, presenting updated vaccination and deworming cards and a Certificado de Buena Salud "con no más de 72 horas de emisión" — no more than 72 HOURS old. B/.10.00 per licence, one per species, paid by deposit to Banco Nacional. The 72 hours are an exit figure and have nothing to do with the thirty days on the way in; MIDA also warns that meeting them is only the Panamanian half and the destination country's rules are the traveller's own responsibility.

Dogs: ARRIVAL CONDITION: the animal must not present fresh wounds or wounds in the process of healing — "Los animales no presenten heridas frescas o en proceso de cicatrización". MIDA's 2025 guidance also has the health certificate confirm that the pet "no presenta heridas". This is a physical standard an animal can fail on the dock however complete its paperwork.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2,1]
SANCTION FOR ARRIVING NON-COMPLIANT: "De no cumplir con la totalidad de los requisitos exigidos, el animal será retenido y/o devuelto por la aerolínea utilizada en su arribo" — if the requirements are not met IN FULL, the animal will be retained and/or returned by the airline used on arrival. MIDA cites this to Ley 23 article 39 and to Decreto 1132 of 20 August 1970 article 16. Note what the sanction assumes: a carrier. Who carries the duty when the animal arrived on its owner's own boat is not addressed anywhere — see veterinary_certificate.sea_voyage_exceptions.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]
NO DISEASE TESTING OF ANY KIND is required — no serology, no rabies titre, no heartworm, leishmania, brucella or blood test appears in any source read here. Beyond the species vaccination lists, the health requirements are the two certificates, the antiparasitic treatments and the animal's condition on the day. This is an absence in the documents read, not a published exemption.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.
NO BREED PROHIBITION was found in any source read here; neither ministry mentions breed. The absence of a published ban is recorded as an absence, not as permission. Decreto 1132, the instrument both ministries cite as the legal basis, could not be read — the Gaceta facsimile carries no text layer — so its silence on breed is untested rather than established.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.
Cats: ARRIVAL CONDITION: the animal must not present fresh wounds or wounds in the process of healing — "Los animales no presenten heridas frescas o en proceso de cicatrización". MIDA's 2025 guidance also has the health certificate confirm that the pet "no presenta heridas". This is a physical standard an animal can fail on the dock however complete its paperwork.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2,1]
SANCTION FOR ARRIVING NON-COMPLIANT: "De no cumplir con la totalidad de los requisitos exigidos, el animal será retenido y/o devuelto por la aerolínea utilizada en su arribo" — if the requirements are not met IN FULL, the animal will be retained and/or returned by the airline used on arrival. MIDA cites this to Ley 23 article 39 and to Decreto 1132 of 20 August 1970 article 16. Note what the sanction assumes: a carrier. Who carries the duty when the animal arrived on its owner's own boat is not addressed anywhere — see veterinary_certificate.sea_voyage_exceptions.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.^[2]
NO DISEASE TESTING OF ANY KIND is required — no serology, no rabies titre, no heartworm, leishmania, brucella or blood test appears in any source read here. Beyond the species vaccination lists, the health requirements are the two certificates, the antiparasitic treatments and the animal's condition on the day. This is an absence in the documents read, not a published exemption.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.

Sources

1
Introducción de animales menores a la República de Panamá — Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (MIDA) — Dirección Ejecutiva de Cuarentena Agropecuaria (DECA)
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
2
Requisitos para la introducción de animales menores al país (Perros, Gatos y hurones) y procedimiento de trámite — updated March 2026 — Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (MIDA) and Ministerio de Salud (MINSA) — joint sheet, Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen
healthAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
3
Información para introducir animales menores al país, with Solicitud de Cuarentena Domiciliaria and Compromiso de Cuarentena Domiciliaria — Ministerio de Salud (MINSA) — Departamento de Control de Zoonosis
healthAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
4
Requerimientos para la Introducción de pequeñas especies al país y para mascotas que viajan a otros países — Ministerio de Salud (MINSA)
healthAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
5
Decreto No. 1132 de 20 de agosto de 1970, por el cual se establece la Cuarentena Nacional de Animales Menores, se reglamenta su entrada al país, se determina el período de cuarentena y se toman otras medidas — Junta Provisional de Gobierno de la República de Panamá — Gaceta Oficial No. 16,690 (facsimile published by the Procuraduría de la Administración)
legalAccessed 2026-08-13Published 1970-09-14in ES — translated herearchived copy
6
Dirección Ejecutiva de Cuarentena Agropecuaria — quiénes somos, funciones y fundamento legal — Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (MIDA) — Dirección Ejecutiva de Cuarentena Agropecuaria (DECA)
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
7
MIDA recuerda requisitos para entrada y salida de mascotas en el territorio nacional — Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (MIDA)
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13Published 2025-11-14in ES — translated hereno archive yet
8
Cuarentena del MIDA aplica estrictos protocolos para el ingreso de animales al país — Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (MIDA)
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13Published 2025-10-16in ES — translated hereno archive yet
9
Requisitos para la importación de perros y gatos (superseded fee and vaccination page, cited only for the after-hours provision) — Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (MIDA)
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
10
Exportación de animales menores — Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (MIDA) — Dirección Ejecutiva de Cuarentena Agropecuaria (DECA)
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
11
Directorio telefónico — Dirección Ejecutiva de Cuarentena Agropecuaria — Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (MIDA) — Dirección Ejecutiva de Cuarentena Agropecuaria (DECA)
agricultureAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
12
Acuerdo No. 297 de 23 de junio de 2016, Reglamento de Sanidad y Prevención de Enfermedades Contagiosas (Sección Octava — Paso de animales) — Autoridad del Canal de Panamá — Junta Directiva
legalAccessed 2026-08-13Published 2016-06-23in ES — translated herearchived copy
13
Acuerdo No. 360 de 12 de diciembre de 2019, Reglamento para la Navegación en Aguas del Canal de Panamá — Autoridad del Canal de Panamá — Junta Directiva
legalAccessed 2026-08-13Published 2019-12-12in ES — translated herearchived copy
14
Trámites para Garantizar el Tránsito de Embarcaciones Menores en el Canal de Panamá (4352-I, V.3-2024) — Autoridad del Canal de Panamá — Unidad de Arqueo
customsAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy
15
Reglamento de Transporte Marítimo, approved in the Onmaggeddummad Sunmaggaled sessions of 2019 (Capítulo XII — Naves de recreación, yates y veleros) — Gunayala Onmaggeddummad Sunmaggaled (Congreso General Guna) — Secretaría de Transporte Marítimo
legalAccessed 2026-08-13in ES — translated herearchived copy

Last checked October 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: Conflicting. Sources disagree — verify before you rely on it. sources disagreeconfidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet. not yet documented· How we grade