Unauthorised horse passport concern
It has been reported that as many as 7,000 unauthorised horse passports may have been in circulation in the UK since 2008.
Suggestions that the Spotted Horse and Pony Society continued to issue horse passports after it lost its right to authorise such documents, has highlighted abuse to the system.
The passport system was introduced in 2005 to ensure those horses likely to enter the food chain would remain drug-free, however in light of the information, abattoirs may have been misinformed.
Campaigners are calling for the system to be reviewed, with experts claiming that the quality of the documents varies considerably across more than 70 equine organisations that are able to issue them.
A Defra spokesperson said: "The Spotted Horse and Pony Society had their approval to issue passports withdrawn by Defra in 2008. After checks were carried out, the society was found not to be meeting the minimum standards required for operational efficiency."
The society is no longer running, however campaigners believe the problem lies with a "bonkers" system.
"We do know there is widespread abuse of the passport system," said Roly Owers, chief executive of World Horse Welfare. "It needs changing, it needs vast improvement."
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
