FINE Gael MEP and Co-Chair of the European Parliament’s Horse Group, Nina Carberry is targeting EU-wide action to improve transparency and traceability in the equine sector.

Hosting a recent stakeholder meeting in the European Parliament on the issue, the Midlands Northwest MEP noted the ongoing implementation of key recommendations in Professor Paddy Wall’s report and in the recently launched Equine Action Plan.

MEP Carberry stressed the need to improve the inspection regime for horses, updating IT equipment to track all equine imports and exports across the island of Ireland and establishing a panel of approved microchip suppliers to ensure higher security and prevent fraud.

Carberry also emphasised that working cross-border with stakeholders in Northern Ireland is of significant importance.

“The current paper-based passport system remains vulnerable to fraud,” she said. “If we can coordinate efforts to move towards a fully digitised horse passport system across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain, then we can surely do so across the entire EU.”

Carberry concluded by noting that a targeted revision to the EU Animal Health Law, would go some way to addressing the issues around the transparency and traceability of the sector across Europe.