Isabel Hurley

THE Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, recently signed a Statutory Instrument which effectively introduces a new passport format with enhanced security measures aimed at preventing fraud.

In a change from previous legislation, equines for breeding and production may now only be identified by an approved Passport Issuing Organisation (PIO) in the State in which the animal is kept.

Under the new rules, keepers are responsible for ensuring that equines have the relevant identification documents issued within 12 months from the date of birth of the animal.

Keepers are required to submit a completed application for an equine passport to an appropriate PIO within six months from the date of the equine’s birth.

A keeper who fails to comply with the requirement to properly identify an equine, commits an offence and could be fined up to €5,000 if convicted.

The new legislation places additional responsibilities on keepers to record the introduction of an equine into the State from another EU country. This requires the lodgement of the relevant passport with an approved PIO in the State within 30 days of the animal entering the country.

Similarly, in the case of equines registered in Studbooks that are resident in the State but were identified by a PIO in another EU country, keepers are required to lodge the relevant passport with an appropriate PIO in the State within 30 days of the issue of the original document.