A new pet passport will be introduced in a bid to reduce forgeries and improve traceability.

A new pet passport is due to come into force in December

Vets and other stakeholders have been invited to give their views on changes to pet travel regulations, which are due to come into force on December 29, 2014.

A new pet passport is due to be introduced, as well as a minimum age for rabies vaccinations.

Defra has launched a six-week online survey and is calling for vets, pet owners, transport companies and other interested parties to submit their views on the proposed changes.

According to Defra, the aim of the new EU regulation (576/2013), is to improve traceability and compliance with the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) and strengthen its enforcement.

The main requirements of the scheme will remain the same, but further controls will be added. For example, the new pet passport will include an extra page - “Issuing of the passport” - for vets to fill in their contact details.

Laminated strips will also cover the pages containing pet details, microchip information and rabies vaccination entries, making it more difficult to tamper with these pages after they have been completed by a vet.

The vaccination entry will contain a “valid from” date showing the earliest date from which the pet can travel and each page will feature a unique passport number.

Owners may be asked to show the passport when entering other EU countries, which are now required to carry out checks on pet movements.

From the end of December this year, pets must be at least 12 weeks old before receiving their rabies vaccination. This will be applied across the EU in a bid to reduce the number of young pets being transported.

A Defra spokesperson said: “The changes to pet travel that the European Commission are introducing will improve the scheme by making it more secure and improving traceability. The majority of pet owners who want to take their cat, dog or ferret abroad will see no difference to the process of travelling with their pet.”

Since the pet travel rules were relaxed in 2012, there have been concerns among the veterinary profession and Trading Standards about a rise in the number of illegally imported pets, and therefore the disease risk to the UK. However, Defra has maintained that the risk of rabies entering the UK is very low.

Following the rule change two years ago, pets can now travel 21 days after their rabies vaccination, rather than six months.

Speaking at BSAVA's congress this year, Sharon Edwards, a senior inspector for City of London Animal Health and Welfare, said there has been a 400 per cent rise in reports of illegal imports in Greater London since 2012.

Earlier this year, the AHVLA revealed that the number of dogs stopped by Trading Standards for non-compliance with the scheme had risen more than threefold since 2011.

The proposed regulation changes have been developed with the help of informal discussions with a variety of stakeholders. Once the consultation period is over, a summary of the responses will be published on Defra's website.

Visit Defra's website for further information on the consultation, and to complete the survey:

https://consult.defra.gov.uk/animal-health-and-welfare/changes-to-the-eu-pet-travel-scheme