Report of Meeting of Equine Committee Held in Backweston on 16 December 2011

Report of Meeting of Equine Committee held in Backweston on 16 December 2011.

Attendance: Dept: M. Blake CVO; P. Brangan; D. Sammin; S. Gaynor; L. Lane and K. O’Connor.

D. Leadon ; Dr V. Duggan Vet. Ireland; M. Hatch DARDNI; J O’Connor ITBA; A. Munnelly BBA; D. Black (ECNI); D. O’Donnell HSI (apologies N. Hannon; M. O’Hagan ITM )

The meeting was chaired by Mr. Martin Blake CVO .

Item 1: Minutes of meeting of 15 June 2011

The minutes were agreed.

Item 2 : Matters arising

The following two matters arising from the previous meeting were addressed.

(a) EVA :- need for policy review

Mr Brangan recalled the discussion at the previous meeting about the different policy approaches by the Tripartite partners and said that he had since established that in France the only compulsory measures regarding EVA relate to artificial breeding and stallions which are collected in EU approved centres. In regard to natural service sanitary rules are decided by the stud book of each breed. In France the sector is represented by RESPE who make recommendations and manage out breaks of EVA. In the UK the policy in regard to positive EVA stallions is quite similar to that in Ireland however the main difference is that in the event of litigation the UK is protected in law by having limited liability provisions. The Department is meanwhile in the process of reviewing current policy and is considering whether to continue with current policy ( where positive stallions are movement and breeding-restricted) or whether to vary this strategy taking all interests into account. The new Animal Health and Welfare (AHW) Bill may provide the opportunity to vary the current policy.

Members asked that serious consideration be given to enhancing animal controls through legislation particularly in respect of requiring health assurances in respect of stallions prior to the commencement of the breeding season. Outbreaks of disease such as EVA could prove very costly to the industry, not least because of the value of the Irish horse sector in attracting trade in many different sectors to Ireland. While the voluntary codes are to be welcomed, legislation requiring evidence of EVA/EIA/CEM freedom prior to breeding would be self limiting in terms of cost and would also have the effect of safeguarding shuttle stallions. The possibility of a licensing requirement was also raised.

Mr Blake said that the Department was not proposing to changes its policy in the immediate term but would consider whether the new AHW Bill might present an opportunity to provide for future change. He also said that the issue of EVA would be discussed further with the group.

(b) ELISA

The question of test methodologies used in private labs and the possibility of getting false negatives on ELISA for EVA had been raised at the previous meeting. Dr D. Sammin confirmed that while the onus is on test providers to show that tests are fit for purpose and the Department is not in a position to validate test methods, a communication on this matter will issue from the Department in advance of the breeding season.

Item 3: Communication Strategy- results of questionnaire

Mr Blake recalled the discussion at the previous meeting that the communication strategy between the Department and the industry should take a two- pronged approach: - ongoing ‘low-level’ contact with the industry and a more targeted approach to reach those needing to receive specific messages in relation to disease outbreaks, contingency planning etc. Following the last meeting a questionnaire was distributed to the Members for completion in respect of their respective organisations. He said he took confidence from the responses (which were circulated) that there is an effective means of communicating with the industry. ECNI confirmed that it had now had a formal communication strategy in place. It was agreed that consideration be given to using social networking channels such as Facebook which was used to great effect during a disease outbreak by USDA to counter ill-informed information through that channel. HSI confirmed it has a Twitter and Facebook account and will return the questionnaire reflecting the membership in this regard.

Item 4: Update on Equine identification legislation

Mr. Blake informed the Group that the national legislation to enforce Commission Regulation 504/2008 (EC) was signed by the Minister in July (SI 357 of 2011) and a copy of a presentation which is used to inform interested parties of the requirements was circulated. He said that checks on compliance were taking place at marts and these will be increased incrementally over the coming months. HSI said that 2011 numbers of horse registrations will be available after 28 February and that there had been a noticeable increase in activity in advance of the 31 December deadline. Dr Duggan said that the position of Veterinary Ireland was that there would be no real traceability until a central database was created.

Item 5: Update on premises registration

A draft Order under the Diseases of Animals Acts to require that owners/persons in charge of horses register their premises with the Department was circulated. Mr Blake said that this was another of the fundamental building blocks necessary for traceability of horses for disease control purposes and explained that the Order provides for the establishment of a register of premises where horses or other equines including asses, ponies etc are kept and covers premises where horses are normally in ‘permanent’ residence and those (such as shows, gymkhanas’, veterinary hospitals and clinics ) where horses might temporarily mix with horses from other premises.

The Order: -

 places an onus on the owner person-in-charge of a premises to apply for registration in such form as the Minister may determine.

 provides that persons may not keep horses unless the premises where they are kept are entered on the Register.  Requires records to be maintained.

It is intended that the Order will come into effect on 1 March 2012 and the intervening period will be used to inform horse owners of the need to register premises. Mr. Blake explained that the scale of record keeping will depend on the activity and keepers will be advised accordingly when they register.

The Order was welcomed by the Members, but the feeling was that 1 March 2012 was too early for effective implementation. Department undertook to reflect on the operative date.

DARDNI said that it was also considering the possibility of premises registration but currently didn’t appear to have the necessary legal powers.

Item 6: Overview of equine industry in Ireland

Dr Liz Lane made an very comprehensive presentation on a study she has undertaken on the equine industry in Ireland with particular reference to the sport horse and the thoroughbred industry. The presentation covered 1. The use of horses; 2. Registration of horses and identification in Ireland; 3. Population of horses and ponies in Ireland; 4. The relative change in equine population; 5. The value of the horse industry to Ireland and concludes that there are some 200,000 horses on the island. One of the main recommendations was the need for a real-time central database to have better more consistent and up-to-date data to facilitate disease contingency planning, undertaking outbreak and epidemiological investigations and promoting responsible ‘ownership’. The presentation also highlighted for policy makers the very significant potential economic and social impacts of disease intervention strategies and that where better data is available, this enables more refined and strategic interventions.

Dr Lane was complimented on her excellent presentation and it was suggested that she might make the presentation at the EXPO in Goffs in February next should the opportunity present itself. It was agreed that any comments regarding the paper be submitted before the end of January.

Dourine :

The question of Dourine in Italy was raised. The Department indicated that an information leaflet on Dourine is available on the Department’s website . HSI & ITBA will highlight the potential risk in their contacts with breeders.

Tender for equine disease surveillance

The group noted that the Department has tendered for an equine disease surveillance programme on e tenders with a closing date of 12 January. AHW Bill

The Department confirmed that Animal Health and Welfare Bill is to be published in 2012.

Next meeting to be held in June