Progress in equine export protocols

SOUTH AFRICAN Equine Health and Protocols (SAEHP), led by Adrian Todd, was charged with spearheading the equine industries efforts to implement long term sustainable export protocols in 2017. The equine industry has suffered due to onerous export requirements and SAEHP has been working hard in conjunction with the South African Dept. of Agriculture (DAFF) to improve exports for horses. South Africa has been unable to export directly to most countries and horses currently have to embark on an arduous journey that takes a minimum of three months via Mauritius to reach Europe.

SAEHP and DAFF have made great strides towards resolving the issues and the onerous export requirements. Improvements in disease control and reporting have been made at home, and scientific advancements coupled with international lobbying and awareness campaigns are starting to show results.

“We are now in the audit process. RSA DAFF has officially communicated with the EU with an update on the implementation of recommendations from the 2013 audit. Furthermore there have been no cases of AHS within the control zone for a period of two years”, said Todd

“A new EU Commission Implementing Regulation has recently been published in the official journal of the EU.

The existing protocol requires 40 days of quarantine in the free zone. Once direct trade between South Africa and the EU resumes, direct export to the EU will require either 40 days quarantine in a vector protected quarantine station or 14 days in a vector proof (lockdown) quarantine station. This is keeping in line with the OIE recommendations and the risk assessment study and is a major achievement towards our goal. We are confident of the improvements that have been made and our efforts are ongoing”, he added.

Todd concluded by confirming that the intention is for horses to be exported directly to the EU in 2019.