Anyone who has dogs or cats in the European Union (EU) could face new rules in the coming years, after the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement to tighten traceability, reinforce animal welfare and curb illegal trade.
According to the Spanish portal, the understanding reached in November 2025 provides, for the first time, a common European framework for dogs and cats kept in establishments and placed on the market. The text is not yet completely finalized, as it needs formal adoption, but it already defines the backbone of the changes that could affect breeders, sellers, shelters and also many guardians.
Among the central measures are mandatory identification by microchip, strengthening registration in databases, limits on breeding, stricter rules for imports and restrictions on practices considered harmful to the health and well-being of animals.
Microchip and registration will gain even more weight
One of the pillars of the agreement is traceability. According to the EU Council, dogs and cats will have to be registered in databases, connected to a European system, to facilitate tracking the animal’s path and hinder illegal movement between countries.
In practice, this reinforces a requirement that already exists in Portugal. DGAV reminds that all dogs, cats and ferrets must be identified with a microchip and registered with SIAC, and for animals born in Portugal after October 25, 2019, this procedure must be carried out until they are 120 days old.
In other words, for many Portuguese guardians, the novelty will not be the existence of a microchip, but the possibility of a more articulated European system emerging, with more data crossing and more control over sales, adoption and cross-border circulation. This is an inference consistent with the text of the interim agreement.
Purchase, sale and adoption may become more controlled
The EU Council indicates that dogs and cats will have to be identified and registered before being sold or donated. The intention is to make “anonymous” commerce more difficult and increase consumer protection, in a market where there are still many differences between national rules.
Animals imported from outside the EU to be placed on the market will also have to be registered in the national database within five working days of entry. Regarding non-commercial movements, the agreement requires pre-registration by the owner in a traveler database, at least five days before entering the EU.
This means that anyone who buys, sells, adopts or brings animals from abroad may have to deal with more demanding and better documented processes. Brussels’ focus is clearly on combating illegal trade and opaque supply chains.
What about the animal passport? There are changes, but it is not the end of the current system
For now, the European Pet Passport remains the reference document for dogs, cats and ferrets traveling between EU countries. The Your Europe platform itself explains that this passport follows a harmonized model and is mandatory for travel within the Union.
So far, there is no official indication that the new provisional agreement will replace the European passport with another document. What appears in the policy text already released is a strengthening of registration and traceability, including a future database for non-commercial movements, which could add pre-registration obligations on certain entries, but not automatically eliminate the current passport regime.
Therefore, the most prudent reading is this: the animal passport must remain, but it may begin to coexist with additional registration and control mechanisms when the new rules are formally approved and implemented.
Creation and well-being are also in the spotlight
The provisional agreement includes limits on reproduction and specific prohibitions on close inbreeding, as well as restrictions on the breeding of animals with extreme characteristics that harm their health. It also provides for rules against painful mutilations, unless there is a veterinary indication.
Furthermore, dogs and cats with extreme conformational traits or mutilations should be excluded from competitions, shows and exhibitions, in an attempt to discourage practices that worsen welfare problems.
These measures point to a clear squeeze on breeders and operators, but they could also have indirect effects on those who buy animals, because the market will tend to become more regulated and more subject to documentary evidence.
When they come into force
Here it is important to stop alarmism. The process is not over yet. The Council indicated in December 2025 that if the European Parliament adopts the agreed text as its first reading position, it will approve it and the act will be adopted. Parliament’s legislative page points to the plenary vote for April 27th.
Furthermore, Parliament itself refers to transition periods. Operators, such as breeders, sellers and shelters, will have several years to adapt, which eliminates the idea of an immediate change from one day to the next.
So, the essential message is this: yes, the European Union is tightening the rules for dogs and cats, and this could affect identification, registration, trade and travel. But the framework is still in the formal adoption phase and implementation must be phased.
Also read:
