The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will end equine import quarantine at the Miami Animal Import Center. Instead, equines being imported through the Miami area will spend their quarantine period at one of the three privately operated, USDA-approved quarantine facilities nearby.
Effective July 2, 2021, APHIS will no longer accept new reservations for equine quarantines at the Miami Animal Import Center. Reservations made through July 1 may be completed at the Miami Animal Import Center, but by the end of July, all equine quarantines will take place at the private facilities.
APHIS is making this change because the private equine quarantine facilities in the area offer greater capacity and more options for importers than the USDA-operated facility. Importers and brokers can find contact information for the Miami area private equine quarantine facilities on the APHIS website.
APHIS will focus on providing greater customer service for the other services offered at the Miami Animal Import Center and through the Miami Port Office. They include: avian quarantines, import inspections, export inspections, and export endorsement services for veterinary health certificates.
There is typically a seasonal increase in equine imports from October through March, and the local private facilities have the capacity to meet these seasonal demands. We are notifying stakeholders who use the Miami Animal Import Center now, so they will be able to plan ahead for the next busy season.
Information for this report was provided by the Equine Disease Communication Center.
