Canadian trucking group says new dog importation regs could cause ‘logjam’ at border

A Canadian trucking group is calling for a delayed rollout of new regulations pertaining to the importation of dogs.

On Aug. 1, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will launch new regulations governing the importation of dogs into the country. According to the agency, the new rules are intended to prevent the reintroduction of the rabies variant carried by dogs into the United States, which officials have said was eliminated in 2007.

While the intention of the new regulations is to ensure public health, the Canadian Trucking Alliance is claiming the rules have the “potential to cause significant disruption to commercial vehicle travel and all cross-border trade” and is asking the agency to hold off on implementing them until the start of the New Year.

“If implemented as currently outlined, the policy could delay shipments carried by commercial drivers who are traveling with their dogs, which could potentially lead to a logjam in secondary inspection and cause backups that would impact all truck drivers, whether they’re traveling with a dog or not,” the trucking group said. “There is also lack of clarity around how border admissibility will be impacted and how truck drivers and their loads will be treated if unintentional noncompliance occurs.”

The trucking group said those issues include “concerns about the structure of the policy, how rapidly it has been introduced and the lack of communication and awareness amongst all travelers about this upcoming change.”

The CDC announced the upcoming changes in May, giving the public roughly three months to prepare. Under the new requirements, all dogs entering the United States must:

  • Appear healthy upon arrival
  • Be at least six months of age
  • Be microchipped
  • Be accompanied by a CDC Dog Import Form online submission receipt

There are additional regulations based on where the dog has been in the past six months and whether the dog was vaccinated in the United States. Additionally, dogs arriving from countries with a high risk of dog rabies must be vaccinated to protect against the viral disease.

With the impending rollout of the new regulations on the horizon, the Canadian Trucking Alliance is now asking for those requirements to be delayed until January 2025 or “until the CDC and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have agreed that all issues have been addressed.”

“We believe that such an approach will bring about a better policy that protects our animals as well as allowing for all cross-border travelers to better understand how to comply with this requirement,” Stephen Laskowski, CTA president, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, July 17, Canadian Minister of Health Mark Holland issued a statement regarding the upcoming changes and concerns about them. In his statement, Holland said the new measures could place an undue strain on supply chains.

“These new CDC regulations risk negative impacts to our people, our supply chains and our local economies,” Holland said. “Our government has been clear: Many Canadians – like snowbirds and truckers – travel to the U.S. with dogs, and the CDC’s new regulations will affect the people and economies on both sides of the border. We will continue to raise these concerns with our U.S. counterparts and work to find a path forward.”

Both Holland and the trucking group point out that Canada, like the U.S., is free from the rabies variant carried by dogs. LL

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