USDA Veterinary Accreditation: Categories, Training, and Renewal

USDA veterinary accreditation is the federal authorization that lets a licensed veterinarian perform official regulatory duties for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) — signing interstate and international health certificates, running official disease tests, and certifying vaccinations under federal animal health programs. The program is run through APHIS’s National Veterinary Accreditation Program (NVAP) under 9 CFR Part 161. To get accredited, you need a veterinary degree, an active state license, completion of the web-based Initial Accreditation Training, and a state orientation, followed by an online application with a signed hard copy mailed to your APHIS Area Office. Accreditation lasts three years.

What Accreditation Lets You Do

A state license lets you practice veterinary medicine. It does not let you act as an agent of the federal government. Without NVAP accreditation, you cannot issue an official health certificate for an animal crossing state lines or leaving the country, you cannot administer and report official tuberculosis or brucellosis tests, and you cannot certify vaccinations required under federal disease programs. The signature of an accredited veterinarian is what gives those documents legal weight.¹

If you see clients whose pets travel across state lines, work with horses, treat livestock or poultry, or participate in federal disease surveillance, accreditation is effectively a working requirement.

Eligibility Requirements

9 CFR 161.1 sets four things you have to satisfy before APHIS grants accreditation.²

A Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, or an equivalent degree that qualifies you for state licensure, from a college of veterinary medicine. Graduates of foreign institutions who cannot obtain direct licensure typically establish equivalency through ECFVG or PAVE.
A veterinary license, or other legal authorization to practice, in the state where you intend to perform accredited duties. APHIS verifies your status with the state board directly.
Completion of the web-based Initial Accreditation Training with APHIS-provided content.
Attendance at an orientation approved by the Veterinary Official in your state, with a signed written statement confirming the date, location, and subjects covered. The orientation must have taken place within three years of the date you apply.

One rule cuts across everything else: if you lose your state veterinary license, your federal accreditation terminates automatically. There is no grace period. The moment you are no longer licensed in at least one state, the accreditation ends.³

Choosing Category I or Category II

You pick a category when you apply, and the choice controls which species you can sign for. A document you sign for a species outside your category has no legal validity.

Category I covers companion and small animals — dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, and similar species. It excludes food and fiber animals, horses, birds, farm-raised aquatic animals, other livestock, and zoo animals capable of transmitting exotic diseases to livestock.⁴

Category II covers everything: all Category I species plus horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, bison, cervids, llamas, alpacas, honey bees, farm-raised aquatic species, and zoo animals. Category II accreditation also lets you perform duties on Category I animals.⁵

If you start with Category I and later need to work with livestock or equines, you can upgrade under the procedures in 9 CFR 161.1(f) with additional training. If there is any realistic chance your caseload will reach those species, apply directly for Category II.

The Required Training

The Initial Accreditation Training (IAT) is a web-based APHIS course covering federal disease-control regulations, foreign animal disease recognition, and reporting duties. It includes an introduction, three veterinary accreditation lessons, four emerging and exotic disease lessons, and seven transboundary disease case studies. Each lesson has a multiple-choice quiz, and you must score at least 80 percent on all 14 quizzes to earn the certificate of completion.⁶

Already-licensed veterinarians access the IAT through the NVAP Coordinator in the state where they want to be accredited. Veterinary students can complete it through their institution’s regulatory or foreign animal disease curriculum.

After the IAT, you attend the state orientation approved by the Veterinary Official (typically the Area Veterinarian in Charge). It covers state-specific animal health procedures, local disease concerns, and how federal and state programs interact. Sign the written statement confirming the details, and remember the three-year window before your application.

Submitting the Application

You file VS Form 1-36A through APHIS’s online portal, VSPS (Veterinary Services Process Streamlining).⁷ The form collects your personal information, license details, training completion dates, and a certification that you can perform accredited duties.⁸

Here is the step people miss. Even after you submit online, APHIS will not process your application until a signed hard copy reaches your Area Office. Print the completed form, sign and date it, and mail it in. Skip this and the application sits.

Once APHIS reviews your credentials and confirms your licensing status, you receive an official notification letter with your National Accreditation Number (NAN). That NAN goes on every official health certificate and regulatory document you sign. If you ever misplace it, your state’s NVAP Coordinator can retrieve it.⁹

The Duty Standards You Sign Up For

Accreditation carries binding obligations under 9 CFR 161.4, and this is where most compliance problems begin.¹⁰

You cannot issue a health certificate or test report for an animal unless you have personally inspected it within 10 days of signing. For herds or flocks on a regular health maintenance program, the window extends to 30 days after the third and subsequent inspections.
Every certificate, form, or report must be fully and accurately completed before you sign it, and must clearly identify the animals and show the dates and results of any inspection, test, vaccination, or treatment.
Health certificates are valid for 30 days following the date of inspection. Origin health certificates for international export may run on different timelines.
If you cosign based on another accredited veterinarian’s inspection or test, you must take reasonable steps to verify the information, identify the other veterinarian by name, and keep the lab results or a written record of any confirming conversation.

You must follow direction from the Veterinary Official and applicable federal program regulations, and you can only perform accredited duties in states where you hold licensure and have received APHIS authorization.

Adding Additional States

Your initial accreditation covers only the state where you completed your orientation. To perform accredited duties elsewhere, you need separate authorization for each state.⁵

You must hold a valid license in the new state, complete VS Form 1-36B, and submit it to that state’s NVAP Coordinator. Some states require a state-specific orientation covering their particular animal health issues; others do not. APHIS maintains a chart of these requirements by state. You cannot begin practicing accredited duties in the new state until the Area Veterinarian in Charge sends you a written letter of authorization.¹¹

You do not repeat the full IAT or the original core orientation when expanding.

Renewal Every Three Years

Accreditation expires every three years. First-time accreditees renew within three years of completing their orientation; after that, renewals run on three-year cycles from the prior renewal date.¹²

Renewal requires completing APHIS-Approved Supplemental Training (AAST) modules during the cycle:

Category I: three AAST units of roughly one hour each.
Category II: six AAST units of roughly one hour each.¹³

You can take the modules any time in the cycle, but you cannot file your renewal application until six months before your Accreditation Renewal Date.¹⁴ Do not let it slip. Once accreditation expires, you lose all authority to perform accredited duties immediately, and continuing to perform them exposes you to criminal and civil penalties under the Animal Health Protection Act.¹²

To reinstate expired accreditation, you complete the required supplemental training units and submit a renewal application. Training completed more than three years before the reinstatement application does not count toward the requirement, so you may have to redo modules. There is no formal grace period. Contact your NVAP Coordinator as soon as possible if you lapse.¹⁵

Suspension, Revocation, and Penalties

APHIS can suspend or revoke accreditation for failure to comply with the duty standards, violations of other regulations in the subchapter, or a finding of unfitness. In less serious cases the Administrator may issue a written warning instead.³

Two situations trigger automatic consequences with no discretionary review:

Loss of state license: accreditation terminates automatically if you are no longer licensed or legally able to practice in at least one state.
Criminal conviction based on your performance or failure to perform duties as an accredited veterinarian: accreditation is automatically revoked.

Signing a false or incorrect health certificate, vaccination record, or test report carries the heaviest exposure. Cases can be referred to the USDA Office of Inspector General, the USDA Office of General Counsel, or the Department of Justice, and may result in civil or criminal monetary penalties on top of the loss of accreditation.¹⁶ Performing accredited duties while suspended or revoked is itself grounds for permanent denial of reaccreditation.³

Report any change in your address, licensing status, or professional standing to your NVAP Coordinator promptly. That is what keeps your regulatory documents valid and your accreditation active between renewal cycles.

1
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. NVAP Reference Guide: Introduction and Table of Contents
2
eCFR. 9 CFR 161.1 – Statement of Purpose; Requirements and Application Procedures for Accreditation
3
eCFR. 9 CFR 161.6 – Suspension or Revocation of Veterinary Accreditation and Reaccreditation
4
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. NVAP: Category I and II Animals
5
eCFR. 9 CFR Part 161 – Requirements and Standards for Accredited Veterinarians
6
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Initial Accreditation Training (IAT)
7
USDA APHIS. Apply For Veterinarian Accreditation
8
United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 1-36A – National Veterinary Accreditation Program Application Form
9
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. NVAP: National Accreditation Number
10
eCFR. 9 CFR 161.4 – Standards for Accredited Veterinarian Duties
11
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Applying for Authorization in Additional States
12
eCFR. 9 CFR 161.3 – Renewal of Accreditation
13
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. NVAP Training Modules for Accreditation Renewal
14
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. NVAP Renewal Instructions
15
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. NVAP: Frequently Asked Questions
16
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. NVAP Reference Guide – Compliance and Regulations