How to Email MIDA and MINSA About Your Panama Pet Import (With Their Actual Contacts)

Panama's two agencies that govern pet entry — MIDA (agriculture) and MINSA (health) — will confirm current requirements directly if you email them. Almost nobody does this, because almost nobody knows who to actually contact. Generic advice floating around expat groups often gets the agency names wrong, or cites contact info that's years out of date.

The two agencies, and what each one handles

• MIDA (Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario) — Executive Management of Agricultural Quarantine. Handles the animal import documentation review at Tocumen.
• MINSA (Ministerio de Salud) — Zoonosis Control Department. Handles the health/sanitation side, including the Home Quarantine Request.

Both have representatives at Tocumen International Airport (PTY) and you present your documents to them on arrival. But before you fly, emailing both directly for written confirmation is the single most reliable thing you can do.

Verified contact information

What to actually ask them

A vague email gets a vague answer. Be specific, and ask for the response in writing so you can print it and carry it with your documents:

• Is a consulate stamp required on my health certificate, or does an Apostille from my state suffice — and does that depend on whether a Panamanian consulate exists in my state?
• What is the current maximum number of days between certificate issuance and arrival in Panama?
• Can you confirm the current process and required lead time for submitting the Home Quarantine Request?
• Are tramitezoo@mida.gob.pa and cam@minsa.gob.pa still the correct addresses for these questions?

Two timelines, not one

Don't conflate the airline's 10-day rule with Panama's own certificate validity window. The 10-day window is tied to USDA APHIS endorsement practice for the health certificate — it's a U.S./airline-side rule, not something MIDA or MINSA impose. Plan around whichever window is tighter for your specific trip.

Build the rest of your timeline

The MIDA/MINSA email is one piece of a longer checklist with its own deadlines — vaccine cutoffs, the health certificate window, USDA endorsement timing, and the airline's own document requirements. Our free tool builds your personalized version of all of it from your actual departure date.

Written by Jon Flink, who moved to Boquete, Panama with his own dogs in 2025 and runs the Pets to Panama™ community. Contact details are verified against an official MIDA/MINSA document but agencies do update their information — always confirm directly and keep their written reply with your travel documents.