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EQUINE LEGAL UPDATE
LEGAL AND VETERINARY JOURNAL
PROBLEMS SURROUNDING THE
EQUINE PASSPORT AND VACCINATION
what to do if an official finds the
equine passport is not up to
regulations.
THE PASSPORT SHOULD
ALWAYS ACCOMPANY THE
HORSE
Mr. L.M. Schelstraete
Active in the fields of company law
and equine law. Within the equine
law practice, Luc Schelstraete
provides services to Dutch yet
often also foreign equine
businesses, riders, horse owners
and equine authorities.
In this informative article, we will
discuss the following subjects: the
equine passport in general, national
and international regulations, the
status quo on mandatory and
non-mandatory vaccinations; and
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Every competition rider should be
aware it is mandatory to keep an
equine passport with their horse at all
times. Since 2007, all horses have to
be registered with a passport and a
microchip. The owner or transporter
of the horse is responsible that the
passport accompanies the horse at
all times. If the horse is stabled at a
boarding yard, the passport should
be kept at the yard. When the horse
is taken to competition, the passport
should accompany the horse. This
obligation is the result of European
regulations, and is also included in
the Dutch regulations in the form of
the Identification and Registration of
Animals rule. Article 39 of this rule is
as follows: It is illegal to keep, trade,
transport, import or export animals
that have not been identified or
registered according to this rule.
47 of the General Competition
Regulations is of special interest.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH FEI
RULES
ARTICLE 47 – INSPECTION
OF COMPETITION
DOCUMENTS
This makes it quite clear the passport
needs to be kept with the horse at all
times, but what exactly needs to be
included in the passport? To clarify
matters, both the Dutch National
Federation KNHS and the FEI have
composed rules. The rules of the
KNHS can be found under the
General Competition Regulations
which can be accessed on their
website. The KNHS indicates that the
rules are on par with the FEI
regulations wherever possible. I&R
officials may visit KNHS competitions
unannounced, inspecting the
identification and registration of the
horses present. This includes
ensuring all necessary
documentation are present and in
order. Besides this, the competition
officials themselves can also conduct
passport checks. In this light, Article
1. During KNHS competitions, the
presence of the necessary
competition documents including all
requested data therein will be
inspected according to the
regulations below. The competitor will
be held responsible for this.
2. The competitor at a KNHS
competition upon request must be
able to show the official:
A. A valid starting pass. If a
participant’s application for a starting
pass is pending, proof that the
application is being processed with
the KNHS is sufficient up to two
weeks after the application.
B. The equine passport belonging to
the horse in question, including all
data required by the Identification
and Registration of Animals rule and
regulatory decrees.
3. The equine passport should
contain a valid registered overview of
all vaccinations administered to the
horse, including the mandatory
equine influenza vaccinations.
A. The booster vaccination against
equine influenza consist of two
vaccinations administered a minimum
of 21 and a maximum of 92 days
apart. In the period between these
two vaccinations the horse is not
allowed to be shown at competitions.
B. The subsequent vaccinations must
be spaced within the year. For
example, if a horse was vaccinated
on 1 March 2010, the next
vaccination must be administered
before 1 March 2011.
C. A vaccination must be
administered a minimum of 6 days
before (the first day of) a competition.
D. Registrations of vaccinations are
only valid when they are
accompanied by a sticker containing
the batch number of the vaccine, date
of the vaccination and the autograph
and stamp or seal of the
administering equine practice or
veterinarian.
E. When the booster vaccination and
subsequent annual vaccination have
been recorded in a separate vaccine
book in the past, the veterinarian
should include the following text in
the equine passport: “The
vaccination history of this horse/pony
is correct. Last vaccination on:
[date].” This rule should be included
in an FEI passport in English. For
horses with other passports, the rule
in Dutch suffices. This line should be
signed and stamped by the
veterinarian regardless of the
language in which it is written. For
horses born in 2008 or later, the
booster vaccination and all
subsequent annual vaccinations
should be recorded in the equine
passport.
VACCINATION INTERVALS
The article above shows that only
vaccinations against equine influenza
are mandatory. The horse should
have received a booster vaccination,
which must be registered correctly in
the passport. This booster
vaccination consists of two separate
vaccinations over a very short period
of at least 21 days and no less than
92 days. When this booster
vaccination has been complied with,
annual repetition of the vaccination
suffices. An important final point to
consider is that the most recent
vaccination must not occur within 6
days before the competition in
question. Since 1 April 2007, the
sticker containing the batch number
of the vaccine must the inserted in
the passport by the veterinarian. So
vaccinations on or after 1 April 2007
must have this sticker, vaccinations
prior to 1 April 2007 do not.
APPEAL PROCEDURES
When the rider is unable to present
the required competition documents,
including the passport, the official will
disqualify the combination. The same
goes when a combination does not
meet the regulations set out in Article
47. This is called administrative
neglect and will result in
disqualification.
The rider in question, or their legal
representative in case of minor age,
can file a protest against this decision
by the competition official; to be
registered with Federation
representative. This protest will only
be processed when a ‘deposit’ of €
50 is paid. This amount will only be
refunded if the protest is accepted.
The protest will be handled by the
Jury of Appeal. This Jury of Appeal
consists of three people: the
Federation representative, the
president of the organizing committee
of the competition in question, and a
third person to be appointed by the
Federation representative.
Regulations indicate different time
limitations for filing a protest. The
rider does best to file immediately
after the official’s decision to ensure
a timely process.
INTERNATIONAL FEI
REGULATIONS
In addition to the KNHS, the FEI has
its own regulations on registration of
equine passports and required
vaccinations. To clarify this, they
have incorporated a helpful schedule
in their Veterinary Regulations 2014.
Concerning the booster vaccinations
there are no differences in
comparison with the KNHS
regulations. There is, however, a
clear difference in the fact that an
annual vaccination against equine
influenza is not enough when
participating in FEI competitions. The
vaccination interval should be no less
than 6 months and 21 days. When a
combination is competing in an
international FEI event, the horse
should be vaccinated at least twice a
year. When any abnormality is found
during a passport check regarding
the vaccinations, this will be reported
to the Appeal Committee, Ground
Jury, or – in case the aforementioned
are not present – the Veterinary
Committee to determine as soon as
possible whether the horse will be
allowed to participate. Failure to
comply with the regulations
concerning vaccination history may
– depending on the situation – have
varying consequences. Not all of
which lead to disqualification. Only
when your horse has not been
vaccinated for a period of over 6
months and four weeks will you be
disqualified.
HIPPIADE 2014
During the national Hippiade
championships for ponies in the
Netherlands, horses and driving in the
Netherlands, passport inspection for
the presence of all required mandatory
vaccinations against equine influenza
was rigorously enforced. Various
combinations were disqualified on the
basis of these inspections; in some
cases the neglect only involved a
missing batch sticker or booster
vaccination of many years before, or
even vaccinations administered a few
days too late. The strict policy in which
the punishment did not always fit the
crime, sparked heavy criticism by all
those involved. To give one example:
during the Hippiade 2014 a
combination was disqualified because
of abnormalities in the vaccination
history of the horse. Seven years
before, the gelding had received a
vaccination 21 days too late. The fault
was only discovered during a passport
inspection when the combination was
getting ready for the Freestyle to
music, for which they had qualified the
day before in an Advanced dressage
test. The question arises whether the
immediate disqualification of this
combination was justified; when it is
discovered that the horse in question
missed one vaccination date seven
years ago. The old regulations in which
a fault in the vaccination history always
led to disqualification received much
criticism.
CHANGES TO THE KNHS
REGULATIONS PER 1
APRIL 2015
On 1 April 2015, the amendments in
the General Competition Regulations
for KNHS competition will come into
effect. These amendments have been
formulated by the Board of Members.
They include changes in the
disqualification policy which applies
when vaccinations of a participating
horse are not up to regulations. When
the vaccination history is not in order,
but the violation occurred over three
years prior, the combination will no
longer be disqualified and will be
allowed to start on that competition
day. The violation is still regarded as
administrative neglect, and starting at a
next competition will only be allowed
after the vaccinations have been
restored to proper order. The horse will
need to receive his booster vaccination
again in order to compete again. Even
a missing batch sticker will in principle
mean that the horse or pony should
have their booster vaccination
renewed. This amendment in the
regulations meets the often heated
criticism on the (too?) strict policy of the
KNHS, punishing a single vaccination
error with immediate disqualification.
Written by Ms Nikki Hamers and Mr
Luc Schelstraete of Schelstraete
c.s. Advocaten B.V. This article is a
representation of the current
status quo of affairs surrounding
equine passports and
vaccinations. All rights reserved.
If you have any questions and/or
comments after reading this article,
we would be happy to hear from
you. You can also contact us for all
equine-law related questions or
matters. Please contact us by
e-mail via info@
europeanequinelawyers.com or
telephone on
+31-(0)135114420.
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