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Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs An Roinn Talmhaíochta, Comhshaoil agus Gnóthaí Tuaithe Depairtment o' Fairmin, Environment an' Kintra Matthers

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  • Identification, registration and movement of horses

    Topics:
    • Animal Health, Welfare and Trade, 
    • Identification, registration and movement

    All horses and other equidae in Northern Ireland need to have a horse passport to identify them.  

    The purpose of the Equine Identification Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 is to improve the system of identifying horses and other equines. This includes the requirement for horses to have a passport and for horses born after 2009, to have a transponder (microchip) implanted. The information recorded on the horse passport will also be recorded on a UK Central Equine Database. In addition to identifying the horse, the passport contains information that seeks to prevent horses that are treated with certain veterinary medicines from entering the human food chain.

    It is the responsibility of the owner of the horse to make an application for a horse passport from an authorised Passport Issuing Organisation (PIO) within six months, from the day on which the foal was born.

    An owner may be fined up to £5,000 if they don’t have an up-to-date horse passport.

    Further information on how to obtain a passport can be found here:

    • Horse passports

    Horse Premises Registration document

    • Horse Premises Registration
    • 2019 Form FB3 - Business Identifier Application (For non-grant or subsidy claiming farm business)

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