Transportation of live animals

Anyone transporting vertebrates must comply with the statutory regulations included in the European Transport Regulation (Europese Transportverordening) and in national law. These regulations apply particularly to transport companies, cattle farmers and collection centres. The main requirements are related to:

• care for the animals during transport;
• the means of transport;
• loading and unloading;
• the time spent in transit;
• the degree of loading;
• obligatory documents.

Carrier's licence

You will need a carrier’s licence from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (Nederlandse Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit, nVWA) if you want to transport vertebrate animals over a distance of more than 65 kilometres. The type of carrier’s licence depends on the duration of the transport. In addition, each driver or handler must have a valid certificate.

Certificate of approval of the means of transport

When transporting a load for longer than 8 hours you must also have a certificate of approval of the means of transport and the means of transport must have been inspected and approved. The certificate of approval can be obtained from the Centre for Vehicle Technology and Information (RDW).