David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, The Urgent Need for an Effective, Enforceable and Enforced Equine Identification System, published in February 2014; and if she will bring forward proposals for such a system to be in place before the end of the current Parliament.

George Eustice

Defra accepts that the current EU system for equine identification does not work well and has pushed for a strengthened regime which is fit for purpose throughout Europe. Defra is now working with the other Governments of the United Kingdom, enforcement authorities and the equine sector to implement a new EU regulation which will help to ensure the regime operates effectively and efficiently in the future.