3 Horse passport systems
34. In our last Report we commented on the operation
of the horse passport system which failed to prevent unregulated
breeding and trading of horses and horsemeat. We asked the Government
to set out how it would reform the system so that horses were
not being given illegal passports and horses which had been treated
with phenylbutazone (bute) and other harmful drugs were kept out
of the food chain.[51]
35. At present, all horses should have a passport
which records all medication, although they are tested for drugs
only when they enter the slaughterhouse.[52]
We have been told that there are 75 organisations in the UK able
to award horse passports and that horses are being issued with
false passports by some of them, which do not always declare the
presence of drugs.[53]
The problem is not unique to the UK, Professor Reilly, Chief Executive
of the FSAI told us that in Ireland, where the horsemeat contamination
was first identified, "we have many different private organisations
that issue horse passports, and the opportunity is there to tamper
with passports, and that has been part of our problem."[54]
36. We were told that there were no checks on the
movement of horses between the Republic of Ireland and Northern
Ireland.[55] The FSAI
has advised that there is currently no legal requirement to carry
out such checks and that there has been an increase in the number
of horses slaughtered in Ireland. However, neither ABP Foods nor
the NFU had any evidence to suggest that the origin of the horsemeat
was in Ireland.[56] FSAI
concurred saying:
If you look at the amount of horsemeat that is
in circulation in the UK, there is close to something like 400,000
horses slaughtered in the EU annually. We have probably something
like 30,000 tonnes imported into the EU. There is plenty of horsemeat
in circulation in the EU. The quantity of horses that would be
produced by Ireland is a drop in the ocean in comparison.[57]
FSA also reported that horses slaughtered for food
in the UK were mainly exported as there was only a small market
for horsemeat in the UK. That which was not exported was probably
used in pet food.[58]
Tests for bute
37. In response to the contamination of beef products
the Government, through the FSA, instituted a "positive release
system" at horse slaughterhouses in the UK in February.[59]
This meant that every horse carcass would be sampled for the presence
of bute and released only if no bute was found. The FSA reported
that between 11 February and 3 May, 20 out of 1,145 carcasses
tested positive for bute.[60]
The Government told us the UK was the only country in the EU to
have instituted such a system.[61]
At present the Government is paying for this system, but is considering
whether industry should contribute.[62]
38. The EC-mandated tests on horsemeat reveal that
14 out of 836 UK samples of horsemeat tested positive for phenylbutazone.
This was the largest number of positive tests within the EU.[63]
We asked the Government to explain this result. Mr Heath said:
it is very difficult to give you a definitive
answer and I am not going to try. It may be associated with the
level of testing that we have engaged in.[...] I think it would
be expected that we would identify far more cases than those who
are not doing testing.[64]
[...] Any positive test means that somebody, somewhere has not
been sufficiently assiduous in maintaining a passport in the form
in which it should be.[65]
Mr Rhodes, from the FSA added;
What we have seen so far, in terms of all the
traceability exercises that we have conducted with others across
Europe, is that origin of the meat appears to be legitimately
slaughtered horses in approved premises in Eastern Europe, which
has then made its way across Europe and at some point has been
used fraudulently.[66]
Towards a new passport system
39. In relation to horse passports the Government's
response to our Report indicated that it was working to improve
the horse passport system within the framework of EU legislation.
This might include "supporting the equine sector in developing
a new central equine database which would be managed and funded
by the sector."[67]
One industry representative organisation, Zootrack Systems, has
suggested this should be a live electronic e-passport system which
would be less open to fraud and quick and inexpensive to implement.
[68]
40. On 22 March, as part of a five-point action plan,
the European Commission proposed to amend Commission Regulation
504/2008 in order "to make mandatory the recording of horse
passports in a central national database" and "to transfer
the issuing of horse passports entirely to the competent authorities
and thereby reduce the number of passport issuing bodies.[69]
The Minister told us the UK was subject to the EU timetable and
that he would "certainly like to see a common database system
for Ireland and for the United Kingdom, but across Europe as well."[70]
Mr Heath said he was pressing for an early resolution on this,
as well as on the tripartite system between the UK, Ireland and
France dealing with thoroughbred animals.[71]
41. We are surprised at the number of positive
test results for the presence of phenylbutazone in horsemeat originating
in the UK in the EU-mandated tests. We welcome the Commission's
proposal to make mandatory the recording of horse passports in
a central national database and to reduce the number of passport-issuing
organisations. The evidence we received suggests there are many
loopholes in the present system which have allowed horses treated
with bute to enter the food system. The positive release system
for horses presented for slaughter is welcome and should continue
with the cost shared between the Government and industry. Given
the uncertainty over the origin of horsemeat in beef products,
we would like some assurance that the movement of horses within
the UK and between the UK and Republic of Ireland is being properly
tracked by relevant authorities.
51 Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Eighth Report
of Session 2012-13, Contamination of Beef Products, paras
13-15. Back
52
Ev 102, Commission Regulation (EC) No 504/2008 of 6 June 2008
requires the checking of passports for identification purposes
and for the presence of drugs banned from the food chain. Back
53
Qqs 495, 596; Ev W6-7 Back
54
Q 215 Back
55
Q 218 Back
56
Qqs 129, 166 Back
57
Q 209 Back
58
Q 648 Back
59
Contamination of Beef Products: Government Response to the
Committee's Eighth Report of Session 2012-13 Back
60
Ev 87 Back
61
Q 640 Back
62
Q 640 Back
63
14 out of 16 positive tests were from UK horsemeat. Back
64
Q 634 Back
65
Q 639 Back
66
Q 651 Back
67
Contamination of Beef Products: Government Response to the
Committee's Eighth Report of Session 2012-13, p 4 Back
68
Ev W7-8 Back
69
Ev 109 Back
70
Q 637 Back
71
Q 638 Back
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