Communique two

3 March 2021

The National Horse Traceability Working Group met for the second time on the 22 February 2021 to progress work to develop recommendations to the Agriculture Ministers Meeting (AMM) regarding a national horse traceability framework. The Working Group is expected to deliver recommendations to AMM in early 2022.

The Working Group discussed several areas relating to traceability including

• the horse industry’s current identification systems
• identifiers of land where horses are kept
• current and potential methods of identification for horses.

The Working Group’s consensus was that from a biosecurity perspective, Property Identification Codes (PICs) would be recommended as the primary identifier for where horses are located. This aligns with the current legislative requirements in all states and territories, for identifying properties where horses are kept.

The Working Group is planning facilitated workshops to further develop recommendations around the definition of ‘ownership’, different methods of individual horse identification and how data will be stored and accessed.

For further information please email horse.traceability@agriculture.vic.gov.au

Stuart McLean
Chair, National Horse Traceability Working Group

NHTWG Membership

• Animal Health Australia
• Australian Horse Industry Council
• Harness Racing Australia
• Racing Australia
• Equestrian Australia
• RSPCA
• State and Territory Governments
  Commonwealth

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