Taiwan bans the import of three pit bull type dogs — the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Pit Bull and the American Staffordshire Terrier — under animal protection law, not quarantine law. Bengal cats need a pedigree showing fifth generation or later. Fourth generation and earlier may only enter for research or registered zoos.
Introduction: two bans, two agencies, one flight
Taiwan’s banned dog breeds sit under animal protection law. Your pet’s health clearance sits under animal disease law. Two different agencies, two separate approvals, and satisfying one does nothing for the other. Hybrid cats bring in a third authority again.
Most owners moving to Taipei or Kaohsiung start with the quarantine page, find a clean list of vaccination and blood test requirements, and assume breed is a non-issue. The page genuinely does not mention breed restrictions. That is not because there are none.
This piece separates the rulebooks Taiwan applies at the border and explains what each one asks for. It sits inside our Taiwan and Malaysia pet import and export guidance at My Pet Mover.
Before the detail, a look at why breed bans are so hard to apply consistently anywhere in the world.
Which dog breeds are banned from import into Taiwan?
Three. Taiwan prohibits the keeping and import of the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Pit Bull and the American Staffordshire Terrier. The ban took effect on 1 March 2022 and was published by the agriculture ministry, not by the quarantine agency.
Taiwan’s list of banned dog breeds is unusually short, and that is the first thing owners get wrong. The announcement published on the APHIA website names exactly three:
- American Pit Bull Terrier — the primary named breed.
- American Pit Bull — an alternative name for the same dog.
- American Staffordshire Terrier — named separately in the notice.
Nothing else appears. Taiwan does not name the Akita, the Japanese Tosa, the Dogo Argentino, the Fila Brasileiro or the Neapolitan Mastiff. Malaysia treats all five very differently, as our breakdown of dog breeds banned or restricted in Malaysia sets out. Owners who assume the two countries share a list plan the wrong move.
The full text sits in the Executive Yuan gazette, in Chinese only, and the consolidated rule is carried on the ministry’s designation of animals prohibited from being kept, imported or exported.
Why APHIA says it has no breed restriction at all
Taiwan’s quarantine agency states directly that its border work places no restriction on the breed of an imported dog or cat. Breed is handled by the agriculture ministry under separate legislation, so the quarantine pages an owner reads first say nothing about it.
Malaysia falls into Taiwan’s rabies-affected category. On that page, APHIA states that its quarantine work imposes no breed restriction on imported dogs and cats. It then adds that the ministry regulates pit bull imports separately under animal protection law, and that owners should confirm compliance before applying.
Read quickly, that sounds like an all-clear. It is not. It is telling you the ban lives somewhere else. The result is two opposite failures:
- The quarantine-only owner. Reads the disease rules, books the flight, finds the breed problem after the crate is paid for.
- The breed-only owner. Confirms the dog is not listed, then misses the twenty-day lead time in our note on applying for the Taiwan import permit before shipment.
Not sure which rulebook applies to your dog?
Send us the breed on the vaccination card and your target month, and we will tell you which approvals the move needs. See how pet export from Malaysia works →
The 28 February 2022 cut-off and what it actually covers
Pit bulls bred on or before 28 February 2022 sit outside the import prohibition, but the exemption is not automatic. Evidence must go to the animal protection authority first, and only after it confirms can quarantine formalities proceed, as our note on guide dog exemptions also illustrates.
The announcement carves out dogs bred before the ban began, but not on the strength of a birthday alone. Supporting material must go to the competent authority under the Animal Protection Act — the ministry centrally, or the city or county government locally — and quarantine may continue only after that confirmation.
This is a documentary exercise, not a visual one. Useful evidence fixes the date of birth to a record made at the time:
- Microchip implant record with the implant date and the chip number every later document repeats.
- First vaccination card showing a puppy course predating March 2022.
- Registration record from wherever the dog lived then.
Two things follow that most write-ups miss. The exemption is ageing — a qualifying dog is at least four years old in 2026, nearing the senior bracket airlines scrutinise. And it gains nothing on the quarantine side: microchip, vaccination window and antibody titre still apply.
Bengal cats: why the fifth generation decides everything
Taiwan treats a Bengal as a domestic cat only from the fifth generation onward. F5 and later import under the ordinary rules that our comparison of cat and dog import rules describes. Fourth generation and earlier fall under wildlife law instead.
Taiwan’s cat rule is the mirror image of its dog rule. Where the dog ban names breeds, the cat rule names a generation. APHIA’s FAQ is plain: a Bengal, also called the leopard cat, counts as a domestic cat once the forestry and conservation agency recognises it as a fifth generation hybrid or later. From F5 upward the Wildlife Conservation Act does not apply.
Below F5 the position changes completely. Fourth generation and earlier hybrids need prior conservation agency approval, limited to academic research institutions, universities, and public or government-registered private zoos. A private owner is not in the category at all.
The count follows the convention used under the CITES resolution on animal hybrids, which reads “recent lineage” as the previous four generations. Count back four; if the wild ancestor is further away than that, the cat is domestic.
The hybrid cat generation ladder
Each generation moves the cat one step further from its wild ancestor and one step closer to ordinary pet paperwork. Only the fifth generation crosses into the standard route that our explainer on Taiwan’s post-entry quarantine describes.
Hybrid Cat Generations And What Each One Allows
| Generation | Treated as | Who may import | Restriction weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| F1 to F4 | Wildlife | Research bodies and zoos only |
Highest |
| F5 | Domestic cat | Any owner, pedigree required |
Paperwork only |
| F6 and later | Domestic cat | Any owner, pedigree required |
Paperwork only |
Compiled by My Pet Mover from APHIA’s quarantine FAQ, updated 10 March 2026, read with the CITES treatment of animal hybrids. Bar widths are relative, not measured.
Moving a Bengal, Savannah or other hybrid?
Send us the registry name on the pedigree and we will confirm the generation reading before you commit to a date. See our Taiwan pet transport service →
What the pedigree certificate has to prove
An official, legally registered pedigree from a recognised registry or breeding establishment, uploaded with the online permit application rather than produced at the airport. Our walkthrough of the APHIA export certificate shows where it sits in the document chain.
APHIA is specific about the source: official, legally registered pedigree certificates from recognised organisations or breeding establishments, uploaded on the online permit system with the permit application. A breeder’s letter, a sales receipt or a photograph of a spotted coat does none of that work.
Three points decide whether the pedigree survives review:
- It must reach back far enough to count. A certificate starting at the parents cannot show the fifth generation. Registries issue multi-generation pedigrees for this reason.
- It must tie to the animal travelling. The microchip number links a paper lineage to a living cat. A pedigree with no chip reference invites a question nobody can settle.
- It must exist before the application. Applications open at least twenty days ahead, so a pedigree ordered after booking arrives too late.
One reassurance the internet rarely gives. A spotted moggy from a Malaysian shelter is not a hybrid and needs no pedigree. The rule only engages where a cat is registered or sold as a Bengal, Savannah or similar hybrid.
Malaysia’s and Taiwan’s breed lists side by side
The two lists overlap on pit bull types and diverge everywhere else. Malaysia bans several breeds Taiwan allows, which matters most on a return move, as our note on Taiwan’s position toward pets from Malaysia explains.
Breed Position In Each Direction Of Travel
| Breed | Into Taiwan | Into Malaysia | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banned by both | |||
| American Pit Bull Terrier | Banned | Banned | No route either way |
| American Staffordshire Terrier | Banned | Banned | No route either way |
| Malaysia stricter than Taiwan | |||
| Akita, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Neapolitan Mastiff | Not named | Banned | One-way move only |
| Named in Malaysia’s pit bull grouping, not in Taiwan’s | |||
| Staffordshire Bull Terrier | Not named | Banned | Ask both authorities in writing |
Compiled by My Pet Mover from Taiwan’s designation of prohibited animals and Malaysia’s rules for importing dogs and cats from non-scheduled countries. “Not named” means absent from Taiwan’s list, not a written clearance. Positions as published August 2026.
What to do if your dog or cat sits near a line
Settle the classification in writing before you book anything. Breed and generation questions are answered by different offices from the ones handling routing, which our guide to transiting Taoyuan covers separately.
Borderline cases are common and not hopeless. What ruins them is discovering the question at the airport, where nobody has authority to make a judgement call. A rescue logged as a “bully mix”, or a cat sold as a Bengal with no papers, need the same treatment.
- Fix the description on paper first. Officers read what the vaccination card says. Have your vet record the breed accurately, or as a mixed breed if that is the truth.
- Ask the deciding authority. Breed questions go to the animal protection authority; hybrid cat questions to the forestry and conservation agency. The quarantine office answers neither.
- Get the answer in writing before booking. A written reply is what a handler can present. A phone call is not.
- Plan the airline separately. Carrier policy is its own layer, as our note on airline restrictions for snub-nosed breeds sets out.
Asking early costs a few weeks. Asking late costs a cancelled booking, a pet in limbo, and at worst a refusal with nowhere to return to.
Where breed and generation cases actually fail
Almost never at the border. These cases fail early, in the weeks when a permit application is being assembled, which is also when they are cheapest to fix. Compare the quarantine failure points in our Singapore quarantine explainer.
Failure Points By Stage Of A Taiwan Move
| Stage | What goes wrong | Recoverable | How often we see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning, before enquiry | Wrong country’s breed list checked | Yes, easily |
Most common |
| Permit application | Pedigree missing or too few generations | Yes, with delay |
Frequent |
| Pre-export vet visit | Breed on the card contradicts the file | Sometimes |
Occasional |
| Airline acceptance | Carrier policy narrower than the law | Yes, reroute |
Occasional |
| Arrival at the port | Breed challenged on inspection | Rarely |
Uncommon |
Compiled by My Pet Mover from corridor casework handled between 2024 and 2026, read against APHIA’s dog and cat quarantine requirements. Frequency bars are illustrative, not a measured sample.
Conclusion
Taiwan’s rules on banned dog breeds and hybrid cats look complicated because they live in three places, but each is simple alone. Three named pit bull types cannot be imported. Everything else enters on documents. Hybrid cats need a pedigree counting back five generations, and below that line only research bodies and zoos may import.
The pattern worth carrying into any corridor is this: quarantine law asks whether an animal is healthy, other laws ask whether it is allowed. Checking one and assuming the other is how good moves come apart. Our international pet transport routes from Malaysia and pet relocation cost guide set out each stage and what it costs.
Worried your pet is on a list somewhere?
Send us the breed or registry name, the microchip number and your target month. We will confirm the classification in writing with the deciding authority, lodge the Taiwan permit inside the window, and quote the move upfront.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which dog breeds are banned from import into Taiwan?
Three: the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Pit Bull and the American Staffordshire Terrier. The ban on keeping and importing them took effect on 1 March 2022 and is published by the Ministry of Agriculture under animal protection law, separately from the quarantine rules.
Is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier banned in Taiwan?
It is not named in Taiwan’s announcement, which lists only the three American breeds. Malaysia groups it within its own pit bull category, so the two countries read the breed differently. Where a dog could be described either way, confirm the position with both authorities in writing.
Can I import a Bengal cat into Taiwan?
Yes, if it is a fifth generation hybrid or later and you hold an official registered pedigree proving it. F5 and above count as domestic cats and follow the normal rules. Fourth generation and earlier need conservation approval, limited to research institutions, universities and registered zoos.
What counts as an F5 Bengal cat?
A cat five generations removed from the wild ancestor, so the leopard cat sits four generations back. The pedigree must show enough generations for an officer to count them. This follows the convention of reading recent lineage as the previous four generations.
Does the pit bull ban apply to dogs already living in Taiwan?
Dogs bred on or before 28 February 2022 fall outside the import prohibition, but the exemption must be established first. Evidence goes to the animal protection authority, centrally or at city and county level, and quarantine formalities may proceed only after that confirmation.
Does my cat need a pedigree if it just looks spotted?
No. The generation rule applies only where a cat is registered or sold as a Bengal, Savannah or similar hybrid. An ordinary domestic cat with a spotted coat and no hybrid claim attached travels as a normal cat and needs no pedigree.
