Overview

• The UK government has formally requested to rejoin the EU's pet passport scheme as part of broader Brexit reset negotiations.
• Rejoining the scheme requires a Swiss-style veterinary deal, aligning UK sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules with EU law and accepting European Court of Justice oversight.
• Officials are expected to concede on long-term fisheries agreements to secure the SPS deal needed to unlock the pet passport programme.
• The pet passport scheme previously enabled 250,000 UK pets to travel to the EU annually before its termination in January 2021, which introduced costly and time-consuming health certifications.
• The reset negotiations, set to culminate in a Monday summit, may also address youth mobility and trade barriers as part of a broader UK-EU rapprochement.