Ecuador: this time, the microchip is mandatory
After Colombia and Argentina, which don't require it, Ecuador is the first country in this series to make the microchip mandatory at entry — not just recommended.
The zoosanitary certificate, and a special case for a returning pet
To enter Ecuador, Agrocalidad requires a Zoosanitary Export Certificate issued by the departure country's official veterinary service, written in Spanish or English, certifying that the animal underwent a clinical exam within ten days before departure and was found free of transmissible disease.
A quirk specific to Ecuador among the countries covered here: for a pet that left the country temporarily and is coming back, that same certificate stays valid for thirty days — well beyond the usual ten-day window for a first entry. Past that point, the full import procedure applies again.
Full vaccination list — with no minimum interval published before the flight
Mandatory vaccinations cover, for a dog, rabies, distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and parvovirus; for a cat, rabies and feline panleukopenia. The page consulted lists these as entry conditions without stating a minimum interval between the injection and the flight — unlike Colombia, Argentina or Chile, each of which publishes an explicit twenty-one-day threshold.
That doesn't mean no interval applies in practice: the vaccination protocols themselves require a gradual buildup of immunity. Absent a published figure from Agrocalidad, the twenty-one-day threshold used by neighboring countries remains the safest margin to plan around.
The microchip: mandatory, not just advised
Unlike Colombia and Argentina, where a microchip isn't a condition of entry, Ecuador makes it an "indispensable requirement" for every dog and cat. It's the first country in this series to require it explicitly at entry, rather than only mentioning it for a later departure.
The rabies titer test follows the same pattern seen elsewhere in the region: not required to enter Ecuador, but needed if the pet later travels onward to a country that requires it — with a minimum threshold of 0.5 IU/ml cited by Agrocalidad itself for that scenario.
Cabin or cargo hold: two completely different entry procedures
A pet traveling in the cabin, or collected with baggage in the international arrivals area, clears customs directly on presentation of the zoosanitary certificate alone. A pet shipped in the cargo hold, on the other hand, needs a Zoosanitary Import Permit issued by Agrocalidad before clearance by SENAE — Ecuador's customs authority — and the owner must email the documents to the arrival airport seventy-two hours before landing.
The transport mode chosen doesn't just affect comfort during the flight: it decides whether an extra permit, with its own lead time, has to be obtained before departure at all.