You need a permit for the import, transit and occasionally for the export as well as for the intra-community movements of animals and animal products according to § 1 of the Ordinance on the Protection against Internal Market Animal Diseases (BmTierSSchV) and of goods that can be carriers of infectious agents. There is a ban on the movement of certain animals and goods.

An exception to the permit requirement with regard to the intra-Community movement of certain animals and goods, the movement of which would be associated with a concrete risk of disease spread, applies to animals and goods originating in a third country that are accompanied by a certificate in accordance with Section 30 (1) sentence 1 BmTierSSchV.

Approval may not be granted if the spread of animal diseases is to be feared.

Foodstuffs of animal origin may be brought into the country commercially only via a border inspection post at which they are subjected to an import inspection.

Products and products which may be confused with foodstuffs which do not comply with the laws in force in Germany, except for

• Foodstuffs intended exclusively for scientific purposes, for trade fairs, exhibitions or similar events,
• food samples and specimens in small quantities,

may not be brought into the country. Their transit requires customs supervision.