The Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has announced that from April 13 through June 14 it will be transitioning to a new equine import model health certificate. Beginning June 15 all health certificates for eligible equines received at U.S. ports of entry must reflect the content of the new certificate.
APHIS states that the new certificate incorporates all information, data, and health attestations required for importing eligible equines and streamlines and reduces existing import documentation requirements.
- The requirement for pre-export foot-and-mouth disease cleaning and decontamination is removed and FMD mitigations will now only be conducted at the U.S. port of entry.
- Pre-export African horse sickness mitigations have been added.
- If applicable, it must be certified that the equine has not been gelded within the 14 days prior to export to the U.S.
- The contagious equine metritis regulations are revised to (1) clarify that the prohibition on breeding includes both live and artificial and (2) ensure accurate information regarding the whereabouts of competition horses during temporary import or export.
- New requirements are added to ensure the health and safety of horses prior to transport.
According to APHIS, all equines can be imported using the new health certificate except for (1) equines from Canada and Mexico, (2) equines temporarily imported for noncompetitive public exhibition and entertainment purposes, (3) racing Thoroughbred horses from France, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom, (4) Spanish Purebred horses from Spain, and (5) zebras and other non-domesticated/wild equines.
During the 60-day transition period APHIS will accept either the new certificate (in which case no supplemental documentation is required) or an existing certificate (in which case supplemental documentation will be required at the port of entry). As of June 15 only the new certificate will be accepted.
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