New deadline for horse passports
Regulations setting out full details of what is required by horse owners under the "horse passport" scheme have now been laid before Parliament, and give owners an extra six months to obtain passports for their animals.
The new horse passport regulations will help protect the human food chain by ensuring that all horses, ponies and donkeys are issued with identification documents, which must contain details of certain veterinary drugs if the animal could end up being for human consumption. It will enable the British horse industry to continue using treatments that are important for horses not intended for the food chain.
To take account of the views of horse organisations and in a move to ensure the success of the new arrangements (there are estimated to be about one million horses, ponies and donkeys in Great Britain) the new regulations will require owners to have obtained passports for their animals by 30 June 2004, rather than the original proposed deadline of 31 December this year.
The regulations include information on when a horse needs to be accompanied by a passport, what to do with the passport when a horse is sold or dies and what happens if a passport is lost or damaged.
Alun Michael, Rural Affairs Minister and Minister for the Horse,
said:
"I announced on 14 February 2002 our intention to require all horses, donkeys and ponies in England to have a passport by 31 December 2003. The requirement to have a passport will help us to comply with European legislation intended to protect public health by ensuring that horses entering the food chain have not been treated with inappropriate medicines.
"Rather than introducing a new system to fulfil our legal obligations in a top-down way, we are working with the horse industry and particularly with the existing Passport Issuing Organisations. The system will allow the continued use of various treatments for horses, which are important to the horse industry in this country, and for horse welfare.
"In response to our consultation on the regulations earlier this year, concern was expressed about the tight deadline between laying the necessary regulations before Parliament and the proposed 31 December 2003 implementation date. A number of stakeholders have also raised concerns more recently. In response to this concern I have decided to postpone the requirement to have a passport until 30 June 2004. This will give horse owners extra time to apply and Passport Issuing Organisations more time to cope with demand."
The regulations will come into force on 30 November 2003.
