Passports:

 

As soon as you decide you are going to move your horse(s), please do a thorough sanity check of all of your passports so that any problems can be rectified in good time.

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Please check for the following issues:

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• Is the name correct and does it match other documents that you may be required to supply such as sales/livery/vet invoices or vet history – often these are in ‘stable’ names which renders them useless for Customs evidence

• Is the diagram completed and signed and a reasonable likeness for the horse?

• Is the passport in the current owner’s name? It isn’t usually a problem if it is not but if you need to evidence how long you have owned the horse, you will need to find another way.

• Has the passport been defaced/altered by someone other than a vet or the issuing authority? It is not OK to just randomly make corrections in biro – this is likely to result in rejection at a Border Control Post.

• Is the animal signed out of the Human Food Chain? If not, please do so.

• Does the microchip on the passport match the one in the horse? If you don’t have a microchip reader, please borrow one or get it checked next time your vet is on the premises and definitely when your Coggins blood sample is taken.

• Is your horse still registered as a stallion when he was gelded donkey’s years ago? If so, please get your vet to countersign that he is now a gelding.

• If the passport is very old and does not contain some of the sections listed above, it may not be suitable for export and you may need to apply for a new one. If in doubt, please send us a clear picture of the passport and ask the question.

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Coggins blood test:

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This can be done up to 90 days prior to the date of departure. Results should be back in 5 working days so don’t be in too much of a rush in case your move is delayed. Please check microchip numbers that go with the samples against the passports and readings from the horses. If the official results letter comes back with errors, it cannot be submitted for export. Please ask your Vet to forward a copy of the results when received.

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CPH number:

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You will need a County Parish Holding number from APHA for the premises of departure. If you already have one, you still need to apply to have Equines registered to your number. Either way, it is a simple and quick process to apply. Just complete the form and email it to APHA and your registration will be back in a few days. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-or-move-equines-apply-for-a-county-parish-holding-cph-number

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Customs:

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If the export is because the horse has been sold, you will need to supply the Sales Invoice upon which the import tax/duty calculation will be based.

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If it is a relocation of the horse but you have owned it for more than 6 months, you can declare your own value using a Pro Forma (template supplied). Be aware that if you put in a ridiculously low value, you may have to provide evidence to justify it, so it is usually better to go in a bit higher and get it accepted first time. For horses classed as unregistered (those not registered for international competition or with an EU recognised stud book) it may well be necessary to provide additional

evidence of your horse’s value such as an insurance certificate. This is because unregistered horses are subject to the same legislation as livestock and are considered to be at risk of export for slaughter.

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If you are moving or have moved your own residence to the EU within the last 12 months, you will be hoping to get Transfer of Residence Relief for your move which means no tax payable on the value of your horses or the cost of transportation. To achieve this there are various criteria you must meet and be able to evidence, the first of which is having owned your horses for at least 12 months. We will supply a list of the criteria, specific to the Country you are moving to, and the documentation you will need to supply but we cannot give any guarantees that the relief will be granted.

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Acceptable formats:

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Please send all documents, as an email attachment or via WhatsApp, as soon as they are available. Best formats are pdf or Word, jpg may also be OK. Please make sure all documents are clear and legible and that wherever possible, you send multiple page documents as one pdf file.

 

When photographing passport pages, if you do not have a scanner, please consider using a scanning App on your phone in order to avoid sending multiple separate pages. If the document you are sending has a space for a signature, please don’t send it without one, it will not suffice as a suitable form of evidence! For Horse Passports we require copies of the front cover, description, diagram, breeding page, human food chain declaration, ownership page, and a clear view (probably on one of those pages) of the Passport Issuing Organisation.

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If in doubt about what is required and what type of documents will work at any point in the process, please just ask and we will do our best to come up with a solution.

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Please be assured that we will do everything in our power to ensure that your export runs smoothly and can proceed on the arranged date but we cannot be held responsible for any delays or additional costs caused by missing, late or poor quality document submission.

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