TLDR: As of March 1, 2026, New Zealand removed the crate seal requirement for pets traveling from Category 3 countries including the US mainland. Crates no longer need to be sealed before departure. However, Certificate B still contains the seal wording from before the change and it must be struck out before the certificate is submitted. This applies to whoever is handling Certificate B, whether that is a private vet, endorsement officer, or relocation coordinator. Leaving the seal wording intact implies the crate was sealed under a requirement that no longer exists, and the strike-out must be completed before the document is included in the pre-travel package.
As of March 1, 2026, New Zealand officially removed the crate seal requirement for pets traveling from Category 3 countries, including the US mainland. Crates no longer need to be sealed before departure. However, Certificate B still contains the seal wording, and that wording must be struck out before the certificate is submitted.
Owners and vets working from older checklists or templates may still be sealing crates unnecessarily, and staff working from older versions of Certificate B may be submitting documents with seal language that should have been struck out.
As of March 1, 2026, New Zealand officially removed the requirement that crates from Category 3 countries, including the US mainland, be sealed on departure. This requirement previously applied to all pets traveling from Category 3 countries and was a standard step in the pre-travel preparation process.
The removal of the seal requirement means crates no longer need to be sealed before your pet travels to New Zealand. This applies to all pets traveling from the US mainland under the standard Category 3 import process.
The seal wording remains in Certificate B and must be struck out before the certificate is submitted. If Certificate B is submitted with the seal wording still present and intact, it implies the crate has been sealed in accordance with a requirement that no longer exists. Staff must strike out the seal wording on Certificate B before the certificate is submitted.
Striking out the seal wording means removing the relevant text on Certificate B to indicate that it does not apply. This must be done before submission.
The strike-out must be completed before the certificate is submitted as part of the pre-travel documentation package.
Confirm with whoever is completing Certificate B that the seal wording has been struck out before the certificate is included in the documentation package.
If you are working with a relocation coordinator, confirm that this step is part of their Certificate B review process. Given that this is a recent change, it is worth raising explicitly rather than assuming it will be caught automatically.
This is a recent change and the Certificate B strike-out requirement is easy to miss if you are working from an older checklist. If you want a team that stays current with regulatory changes and manages every document step for your New Zealand move, get a free quote to start planning.
No. As of March 1, 2026, New Zealand removed the crate seal requirement for Category 3 countries including the US mainland. Crates no longer need to be sealed before departure.
The seal wording remains in Certificate B and must be struck out before the certificate is submitted.
The seal wording must be struck out before the certificate is submitted. Confirm with whoever is completing Certificate B that this step has been done before the document is included in the pre-travel package.
As of March 1, 2026, New Zealand removed the crate seal requirement for Category 3 countries including the US mainland. The seal wording still appears in Certificate B and must be struck out before submission.