HORSE PASSPORTS
The lastest news on horse passport deadlines explained...

Sourced from The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 20 May 2004
Horse Passport (England) Regulations laid before Parliament

When is the deadline to apply for a horse passport?
There seems to be some confusion amongst horse owners as to when you actually need to have applied for a horse passport...

The answer is that you need to have applied for your horse passport by 30 June 2004.

However, you will not be required to present your passport to any authority or body until 28 February 2005. This is to allow for the inevitable back log in administering passport applications.

Originally, 30 June was the cut-off date for obtaining a passport. While encouraging equine owners to meet the deadline, Defra has responded to the advice of horse organisations by allowing more time before enforcement will commence. Owners therefore have more time to comply with the new legal requirement. The Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government and Northern Ireland Department for Agriculture and Rural Development have agreed with Defra that restrictions on horses without passports will apply from the date of 28 February 2005.

Do I tick the box that says 'intended for human consumption'?
The first reaction of a horse owner might be to leave this box blank. No one wants to think of their horse on a meat lorry. However, once this box has been ticked, this can be revoked if desired at a later stage. Furthermore, horse welfare organisations support the signing of this declaration, because if keeps open all routes of disposal, minimising the potential for welfare problems at the end of an equine's life. For example, the final owner of an elderly horse or pony may put off humanely ending the animal's life because they can't afford the veterinary and disposal fees, thus extending unnecessary suffering to the animal.

What does the horse passport scheme mean?
Rural Affairs Minister, Alun Michael, said. "The horse passport scheme means we will comply with European health obligations. It will allow us to continue using our existing wide range of horse medicines which provide a vital safeguard on horse welfare.
"The scheme will also bring added benefits such as improved breeding and discouraging theft, and will feed into the National Equine Database, which will form a vital part of a strategy for the industry. The vast majority of horse organisations firmly support it.
"We have taken care to listen to the concerns of horse owners and their organisations throughout the process of making these regulations and remained open to their suggestions for improving the scheme.
Many equine owners will already have applied or received their passports and I applaud those who have done so. But if you own an equine and haven't yet applied - now is the time to do so."

How do I apply for a passport ?
You can contact your horse's breed society, your vet or a generic horse organisation such as www.bhs.org.uk. There are a large number of equine organisations in the UK who are able to issue horse passports.

CONTACT

For a copy of DEFRA's new Passport Legislation, call their helpline on 08459 335577.