Live animal transport is a complex, high-touch process involving everyone from the shipper to freight forwarders to airline staff, including the handlers. Inappropriate container use or misunderstanding carrier or government regulations can have catastrophic consequences.

The LAR has all the information you need to make sure your live animal shipments are handled and transported in the most expedient and humane manner and at their destination in good health, whether it’s a pet, day-old chicks, racehorses or something a little more exotic.

What’s inside the LAR?

The LAR covers animal transport of all kinds and contains comprehensive information about the requirements for protected and endangered species as lab animals, livestock and domestic animals.

  • Applicability (shipper and carrier responsibilities, training, combatting illegal trade)
  • Government regulations (general and variations by country)
  • Carrier regulations (general, variations by carrier, airline contact information and AVI services)
  • Reservations and advance arrangements (schedules, routing, interline advance, delivery, accompanying persons)
  • Animal behaviour (general, disturbance, segregation, sedation, euthanasia, in-flight environment)
  • Listing, description and species size (taxonomy, alphabetical list, description and size)
  • Documentation (shipper’s certification, waybill, captain notification, CITES documents, other documents, live animal acceptance checklist)
  • Container requirements (general, stocking density, marking, labeling)
  • Handling (animal acceptance, ground handling, loading, feeding and watering, captain’s advice, health and hygiene, OIE recommendations)
  • CITES (general, documentation, list of states, management authorities by country, Article XI, combatting illegal trade)
  • Life science logistics for lab animals (health status, animal type and number, species, and container considerations)

Still not sure if the LAR is for you? Download the full table of contents.

Stay up-to-date

Significant Changes and Amendments to the 52nd edition (2026) of the IATA Live Animals Regulations (LAR) include:

1- Application of these Regulations

Training Framework Enhancements:

  • Implementation of enhanced Live Animals Regulations Training protocols
  • Standardization of training requirements

Addition of Brazil’s formal adoption of the LAR.

2- State Variations

Amendments to State Variations for:

  • ARGENTINA (ARG)
  • CANADA (CAG)
  • GREAT BRITAIN (GBG)

3 - Operator Variations

  • Amendments to Operator Variations for many airlines.

4 - Booking and Advance Arrangements 

  • Replacement of the term reservation with booking for terminology alignment.

6 - Listing, Description and Sizes of Species

Scientific and Common Name Updates:

  • Updates to common and scientific names for Bengal cat classifications
  • Correction of Bengal leopard cat nomenclature
  • Addition of Leopard cat specifications
  • Scientific name updates for Prionailurus bengalensis
  • Correction of Prionailurus bengalensis bengalensis classification

New Species Additions:

  • Addition of “Fishing Cat” (Prionailurus viverrinus) with container requirement number change from 72 to 82 for all Prionailurus genus species
  • Addition of white-tailed antsangy (rodent) specifications

Documentation and Reference Updates:

  • Enhanced Listing, Description and Sizes documentation for Species I and II

7- Documentation

  • Addition of reference to Shipper’s Responsibilities in section 7.1.1

8 - Container Requirements

Ventilation and Construction Standards:

  • Terminology alignment replacing “spacer bar” with “spacer” throughout these Regulations
  • Ventilation illustration updates

Container Requirement Updates:

  • CR1: Clarified ventilation requirements and absorbent bedding.
  • CR2: Reworded exceptions for clarity, replaced specific horse types with weight criteria, added enclosure details, and removed animal number limits.
  • CR19: Added maximum ventilation openings and density per bird. Clarified that only “This Way Up” labels are required for transporting day-old poultry Added plywood to construction materials.
  • CR20: Replaced method of feather protection.
  • CR20A: Creation of new container requirement for raptors and birds of prey that are hooded during shipment.
  • CR32: Branch-like timber made optional during transport for species other than bush babies, tarsiers, and lorises (including pottos), for whom it remains mandatory.
  • CR41-47: Clarified general container requirements.
  • CR61: Added requirement to ensure ventilation is not blocked when bee containers are stacked or placed side by side.
  • CR63: Updated construction materials.
  • CR73A: Updated dimensions.
  • CR74: Floor description changed to specify slip-resistant surface with absorbent material.
  • CR75: Updated mesh type, light inside, and food access. Addition of special conditions for pangolins.
  • CR76: Added requirement for ventilation holes in the roof.
  • CR77: Added optional branch inside the enclosure.
  • CR78: Updated door requirements and clarified ventilation requirements.

Illustration Updates:

  • New illustrations for CR11, CR12, CR13

10- Handling Procedures

  • Clarified attendant requirements in section 10.4.1 for horse transportation.

Glossary 

  • Addition of definition for “Natural Enemies”
  • Relocation of text from Glossary to Chapter 1 for improved organization
  • Clarification of mandatory requirement terminology
  • Updates to nomenclature consistency across LAR sections

To enhance clarity and consistency, the following adjustments will be implemented progressively over the next few editions:

  • Terminology Update: For better precision and coherence, any instances of shall will be replaced with must to ensure clear and definitive mandatory conformance.
  • Measurement System Standardization: The use of the imperial measurement system will be phased out and replaced with the metric system only, aligning with international standards and improving usability.