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Equine Veterinary Journal ISSN 0425-1644 DOI: 10.1111/evj.12248
Science-in-brief: Sports Forum – international movement of horses Introduction The 2013 Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) Sports Forum took place in April at the International Institute for Management Development, a leading international business school in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Forum serves as a platform for stakeholders and interested parties involved with the FEI, the world governing body of equestrian sport, to discuss matters related to the principles and technical aspects of the sport. Qualification for Olympic and Paralympic Games, preparing athletes for the workplace beyond competitive top-level sport, the international movement of competition horses, as well as round tables in driving, dressage and jumping, were among the topics debated at the 2013 Sports Forum. The session on the international movement of competition horses included presentations by the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE: Dr Susanne Münstermann), the European Commission’s Health and Consumers Directorate-General (Dr Alf-Eckbert Füssel), the FEI First Vice-President and Veterinary Committee Chair (John McEwen) and the FEI Veterinary Director (Graeme Cooke). Further information about the FEI Sports Forum 2013, including speaker presentations, is available online: http://www.fei.org/fei/about-fei/ sportsforum.
Equestrian sport Equestrian sport has been included in the Olympic programme since 1912 when jumping, dressage and eventing were introduced at the Stockholm games. The FEI also governs the non-Olympic disciplines of endurance, para-dressage, driving, para-driving, vaulting and reining, which have been rapidly increasing in event numbers across the regions of the world. There are now more than 3000 FEI events globally. A region that has experienced the fastest growth most recently is South America, and the continent will host the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This top-level sport, involving a powerful partnership between man and horse, requires clear governance, regulations and communication, to protect the horses, the human athletes and the sport itself. To that end, the FEI implements rules to ensure veterinary controls at events, including identification (passports and microchips), examinations to evaluate the fitness to compete, emergency services, provisions for disease control, equine influenza vaccination, antidoping and the registration of veterinary surgeons both as Officials (regulatory) and Treating (clinical). Currently the FEI is leading a drive for change in the international movement of competition horses. The reduced internal market border controls of the European Union (EU) have been of enormous assistance in moving what the EU terms, ‘registered horses’ the category of horse into which the EU places horses with an FEI passport. However, outside the EU, the increased number of international competitions has focused attention on the difficulties for cross-border movements of these high-level athletes. Examples are long border controls in some regions, excessively lengthy quarantine periods that prevent training, scientifically unnecessary disease testing, vaccinations and a poor understanding of the real risk posed by these highly supervised horses. In promoting international equestrian sport and the Olympic values, there has to be a balance of science, welfare and protection of local equine populations. Clearly, if equine movements are made more practical, they must also remain safe.
The OIE and trade The OIE (http://www.oie.int) is the intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving animal health worldwide and delegated by the World Trade Organisation in setting animal health standards. As horses travel across borders for sport events, which is considered as trade, they must enter countries as either temporary or permanent imports. To avoid health risks for the local horse population and those
262
travelling to events, these horses must be in compliance with principles specified by the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code [1]. When horses are traded between countries, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement of the World Trade Organisation under which any requirements for trade must be based on scientific risk analyses, comes into effect. The signatory countries of the OIE are required to apply a transparent approach to animal health requirements and ‘equivalency’, although individual countries may additionally stipulate their own requirements. The OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code [1], which describes sanitary measures, currently lists the following notifiable equine and multiple species* infectious diseases. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
African horse sickness Anthrax* Contagious equine metritis Dourine Equine encephalomyelitis (Western and Venezuelan) Equine infectious anaemia Equine influenza Equine piroplasmosis Equine rhinopneumonitis Equine viral arthritis Japanese encephalitis* Glanders Rabies* Vesicular somatitis* West Nile fever*
In addition to the Terrestrial Animal Health Code, the OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals [2] also provides prescribed and alternative diagnostic tests and vaccinations for infectious agents and immune responses.
Current situation and principles for improvement At present, the requirements for moving horses between countries can vary to a confusing degree. The rapid expansion of horse sport has highlighted the lack of a common approach in national requirements, which are often not based on current scientific risk analyses. Disease testing and/or periods of quarantine are often required prior to horses being moved; however these can be inconsistent between countries of the same geographical region. Often the ability to import a horse temporarily remains unrecognised by many countries and therefore a full import and export process is required to allow movement. Many governments do not necessarily consider that a horse competing at a high level of international sport is under almost constant supervision, training, subject to stringent management practices and is therefore in good health, a state necessary to ensure top-level performance. It is the intention of the OIE, working with the FEI, to ensure that there is a better understanding of the conditions under which an international competition horse is kept; to underpin this, a cross-industry approach to biosecurity will be introduced. The concept of an Equine Disease Free Zone was successfully implemented during the 2010 Asian Games. This treats a part of a country as a specific area into which horses are temporarily imported and kept at the same health standards, with no contact or exposure with the local horse population unless they are brought up to the same health standard, before they are re-exported to their countries of origin. Horses that could not normally enter China from Europe and return home to Europe could do so for the 2010 Asian Games. Traditionally there has been no recognised official category to accommodate the high-performance horses that are kept under high veterinary standards and temporarily imported for a sporting event. A further complication is that there are very few OIE approved tests for the purpose of international trade of horses. This leads to different tests being requested for the same disease without a universally agreed approach. Equine Veterinary Journal 46 (2014) 262–263 © 2014 EVJ Ltd
Science-in-brief: Sports horse forum
V. E. Unt
Several effective tests already exist, and new technology can provide even more effective and rapid testing, but the lack of what are termed ‘OIE tests’ for the purposes of trade adds to the confusion. To further ensure a more rational approach to the movements of high-health, high-performance horses (HHP), a standard international system to identify and protect horses must be accepted globally. This includes identification through the use of radiofrequency identification devices (microchips), quality equine passports and standardised biosecurity protocols. If accepted the proposed introduction of OIE guidelines that acknowledge the HHP horse would allow a more harmonised approach to the movement these horses.
Conclusions: strategy and development for movement facilitation The OIE and FEI have been working together since 2002. Recently they have cohosted international summits that have been attended by government representatives, veterinary surgeons and horse sport experts. Last year, a public–private partnership was established, including a 3-year plan to facilitate movement of these equine athletes. A significant step was made during the OIE General Session in May 2013, when delegates formally recommended (through OIE Resolution 36 [3]) the development of new standards and guidelines for the temporary importation of the specific subpopulation of HHP competition horses. Further work will be undertaken to define the HHP horse subpopulation. However, the HHP will be based around the combination of identification, agreed vaccination and testing standards, an acknowledged and commonly implemented standard of biosecurity among all countries and finally, an assurance that the movements of horses to events are traceable through a database.
In June 2013, following the FEI Sports Forum, the European Commission signed amended legislation with the authorities of the People’s Republic of China allowing horses competing at the FEI CSI5* Longines Global Champions Tour to enter an equine disease free zone in Shanghai and return to the EU. Additionally, the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) signed an official agreement with the OIE in July 2013 affiliating the OIE and IFHA and extending the coordinated effort to develop the requirements for the movement of HHP horses. Furthermore, in November 2013 the FEI and the IFHA formed the International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC) with the objective of working together in the delivery of the HHP concept. As all the stakeholders involved become aware of the need for change, a coordinated effort has begun to establish the criteria for the HHP subpopulation and facilitate the movements of this subpopulation. With the progress already made, it is the intention of the OIE, FEI and IFHA to continue the development and recognition of the HHP, facilitating temporary movement of horses in a safe manner and thereby ensuring the continued development of equestrian sports. It is hoped that this will be achieved in 2014 through the adoption of a Code Chapter into the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, describing the HHP horse. V. E. Unt Lausanne, Switzerland
References 1. OIE. OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code. http://www.oie.int/en/international -standard-setting/terrestrial-code/. 2. OIE. OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests. http://www.oie.int/en/manual-of-diagnostic -tests-and-vaccines-for-terrestrial-animals/. 3. OIE. OIE Resolution 36. http://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/eng/About_us/docs/ pdf/A_RESO_2013_public.pdf.
NEW TITLE EVJ BOOKSHOP Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery Editors: K.W. Hinchcliff, A. Kaneps & R. Geor Publisher: Saunders Elsevier, December 2013 • Hardback, 1178 pages Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery provides the most uptodate, indepth coverage of the basic and clinical sciences required for management of the equine athlete. The unique treatment of exercise physiology and training within a clinical context, together with detailed review of all diseases affecting athletic horses, makes this the most comprehensive text available.
EVJ price:
£153 plus p&p BEVA member price: £130 plus p&p
This book will provide a thorough grounding in the basic physiology of each body system, and in particular the responses of each body system to exercise and training, that will be separate, but highly relevant to, the succeeding sections on clinical disorders of each body system. The highly respected editors have brought together an internationally renowned team of 50 contributors, producing the ultimate reference for veterinarians, students, horseowners, and all those involved in the world of equine athletics.
EVJ Bookshop, Mulberry House, 31 Market Street, Fordham, Ely, Cambs. CB7 5LQ, UK Tel: 01638 723555 Fax: 01638 724043 Email: [email protected] www.beva.org.uk Equine Veterinary Journal 46 (2014) 262–263 © 2014 EVJ Ltd
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Equine Veterinary Journal ISSN 0425-1644 DOI: 10.1111/evj.12248
Science-in-brief: Sports Forum – international movement of horses Introduction The 2013 Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) Sports Forum took place in April at the International Institute for Management Development, a leading international business school in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Forum serves as a platform for stakeholders and interested parties involved with the FEI, the world governing body of equestrian sport, to discuss matters related to the principles and technical aspects of the sport. Qualification for Olympic and Paralympic Games, preparing athletes for the workplace beyond competitive top-level sport, the international movement of competition horses, as well as round tables in driving, dressage and jumping, were among the topics debated at the 2013 Sports Forum. The session on the international movement of competition horses included presentations by the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE: Dr Susanne Münstermann), the European Commission’s Health and Consumers Directorate-General (Dr Alf-Eckbert Füssel), the FEI First Vice-President and Veterinary Committee Chair (John McEwen) and the FEI Veterinary Director (Graeme Cooke). Further information about the FEI Sports Forum 2013, including speaker presentations, is available online: http://www.fei.org/fei/about-fei/ sportsforum.
Equestrian sport Equestrian sport has been included in the Olympic programme since 1912 when jumping, dressage and eventing were introduced at the Stockholm games. The FEI also governs the non-Olympic disciplines of endurance, para-dressage, driving, para-driving, vaulting and reining, which have been rapidly increasing in event numbers across the regions of the world. There are now more than 3000 FEI events globally. A region that has experienced the fastest growth most recently is South America, and the continent will host the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This top-level sport, involving a powerful partnership between man and horse, requires clear governance, regulations and communication, to protect the horses, the human athletes and the sport itself. To that end, the FEI implements rules to ensure veterinary controls at events, including identification (passports and microchips), examinations to evaluate the fitness to compete, emergency services, provisions for disease control, equine influenza vaccination, antidoping and the registration of veterinary surgeons both as Officials (regulatory) and Treating (clinical). Currently the FEI is leading a drive for change in the international movement of competition horses. The reduced internal market border controls of the European Union (EU) have been of enormous assistance in moving what the EU terms, ‘registered horses’ the category of horse into which the EU places horses with an FEI passport. However, outside the EU, the increased number of international competitions has focused attention on the difficulties for cross-border movements of these high-level athletes. Examples are long border controls in some regions, excessively lengthy quarantine periods that prevent training, scientifically unnecessary disease testing, vaccinations and a poor understanding of the real risk posed by these highly supervised horses. In promoting international equestrian sport and the Olympic values, there has to be a balance of science, welfare and protection of local equine populations. Clearly, if equine movements are made more practical, they must also remain safe.
The OIE and trade The OIE (http://www.oie.int) is the intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving animal health worldwide and delegated by the World Trade Organisation in setting animal health standards. As horses travel across borders for sport events, which is considered as trade, they must enter countries as either temporary or permanent imports. To avoid health risks for the local horse population and those
262
travelling to events, these horses must be in compliance with principles specified by the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code [1]. When horses are traded between countries, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement of the World Trade Organisation under which any requirements for trade must be based on scientific risk analyses, comes into effect. The signatory countries of the OIE are required to apply a transparent approach to animal health requirements and ‘equivalency’, although individual countries may additionally stipulate their own requirements. The OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code [1], which describes sanitary measures, currently lists the following notifiable equine and multiple species* infectious diseases. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
African horse sickness Anthrax* Contagious equine metritis Dourine Equine encephalomyelitis (Western and Venezuelan) Equine infectious anaemia Equine influenza Equine piroplasmosis Equine rhinopneumonitis Equine viral arthritis Japanese encephalitis* Glanders Rabies* Vesicular somatitis* West Nile fever*
In addition to the Terrestrial Animal Health Code, the OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals [2] also provides prescribed and alternative diagnostic tests and vaccinations for infectious agents and immune responses.
Current situation and principles for improvement At present, the requirements for moving horses between countries can vary to a confusing degree. The rapid expansion of horse sport has highlighted the lack of a common approach in national requirements, which are often not based on current scientific risk analyses. Disease testing and/or periods of quarantine are often required prior to horses being moved; however these can be inconsistent between countries of the same geographical region. Often the ability to import a horse temporarily remains unrecognised by many countries and therefore a full import and export process is required to allow movement. Many governments do not necessarily consider that a horse competing at a high level of international sport is under almost constant supervision, training, subject to stringent management practices and is therefore in good health, a state necessary to ensure top-level performance. It is the intention of the OIE, working with the FEI, to ensure that there is a better understanding of the conditions under which an international competition horse is kept; to underpin this, a cross-industry approach to biosecurity will be introduced. The concept of an Equine Disease Free Zone was successfully implemented during the 2010 Asian Games. This treats a part of a country as a specific area into which horses are temporarily imported and kept at the same health standards, with no contact or exposure with the local horse population unless they are brought up to the same health standard, before they are re-exported to their countries of origin. Horses that could not normally enter China from Europe and return home to Europe could do so for the 2010 Asian Games. Traditionally there has been no recognised official category to accommodate the high-performance horses that are kept under high veterinary standards and temporarily imported for a sporting event. A further complication is that there are very few OIE approved tests for the purpose of international trade of horses. This leads to different tests being requested for the same disease without a universally agreed approach. Equine Veterinary Journal 46 (2014) 262–263 © 2014 EVJ Ltd
Science-in-brief: Sports horse forum
V. E. Unt
Several effective tests already exist, and new technology can provide even more effective and rapid testing, but the lack of what are termed ‘OIE tests’ for the purposes of trade adds to the confusion. To further ensure a more rational approach to the movements of high-health, high-performance horses (HHP), a standard international system to identify and protect horses must be accepted globally. This includes identification through the use of radiofrequency identification devices (microchips), quality equine passports and standardised biosecurity protocols. If accepted the proposed introduction of OIE guidelines that acknowledge the HHP horse would allow a more harmonised approach to the movement these horses.
Conclusions: strategy and development for movement facilitation The OIE and FEI have been working together since 2002. Recently they have cohosted international summits that have been attended by government representatives, veterinary surgeons and horse sport experts. Last year, a public–private partnership was established, including a 3-year plan to facilitate movement of these equine athletes. A significant step was made during the OIE General Session in May 2013, when delegates formally recommended (through OIE Resolution 36 [3]) the development of new standards and guidelines for the temporary importation of the specific subpopulation of HHP competition horses. Further work will be undertaken to define the HHP horse subpopulation. However, the HHP will be based around the combination of identification, agreed vaccination and testing standards, an acknowledged and commonly implemented standard of biosecurity among all countries and finally, an assurance that the movements of horses to events are traceable through a database.
In June 2013, following the FEI Sports Forum, the European Commission signed amended legislation with the authorities of the People’s Republic of China allowing horses competing at the FEI CSI5* Longines Global Champions Tour to enter an equine disease free zone in Shanghai and return to the EU. Additionally, the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) signed an official agreement with the OIE in July 2013 affiliating the OIE and IFHA and extending the coordinated effort to develop the requirements for the movement of HHP horses. Furthermore, in November 2013 the FEI and the IFHA formed the International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC) with the objective of working together in the delivery of the HHP concept. As all the stakeholders involved become aware of the need for change, a coordinated effort has begun to establish the criteria for the HHP subpopulation and facilitate the movements of this subpopulation. With the progress already made, it is the intention of the OIE, FEI and IFHA to continue the development and recognition of the HHP, facilitating temporary movement of horses in a safe manner and thereby ensuring the continued development of equestrian sports. It is hoped that this will be achieved in 2014 through the adoption of a Code Chapter into the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, describing the HHP horse. V. E. Unt Lausanne, Switzerland
References 1. OIE. OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code. http://www.oie.int/en/international -standard-setting/terrestrial-code/. 2. OIE. OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests. http://www.oie.int/en/manual-of-diagnostic -tests-and-vaccines-for-terrestrial-animals/. 3. OIE. OIE Resolution 36. http://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/eng/About_us/docs/ pdf/A_RESO_2013_public.pdf.
NEW TITLE EVJ BOOKSHOP Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery Editors: K.W. Hinchcliff, A. Kaneps & R. Geor Publisher: Saunders Elsevier, December 2013 • Hardback, 1178 pages Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery provides the most uptodate, indepth coverage of the basic and clinical sciences required for management of the equine athlete. The unique treatment of exercise physiology and training within a clinical context, together with detailed review of all diseases affecting athletic horses, makes this the most comprehensive text available.
EVJ price:
£153 plus p&p BEVA member price: £130 plus p&p
This book will provide a thorough grounding in the basic physiology of each body system, and in particular the responses of each body system to exercise and training, that will be separate, but highly relevant to, the succeeding sections on clinical disorders of each body system. The highly respected editors have brought together an internationally renowned team of 50 contributors, producing the ultimate reference for veterinarians, students, horseowners, and all those involved in the world of equine athletics.
EVJ Bookshop, Mulberry House, 31 Market Street, Fordham, Ely, Cambs. CB7 5LQ, UK Tel: 01638 723555 Fax: 01638 724043 Email: [email protected] www.beva.org.uk Equine Veterinary Journal 46 (2014) 262–263 © 2014 EVJ Ltd
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