INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT OF HORSES COMMITTEE

On September 1990, Lord HARTINGTON - then Senior Steward of the Jockey Club of Great Britain - organized at Windsor, an international forum on horses' international movements in order to deal with quarantine problems which had been acute and numerous in the past.

A month later, at the 24th Paris Conference, the Racing Authorities decided to set up a working group which obtained very positive results especially concerning quarantine problems with USA, Australia and South Africa.

On October 1994, the 28th International Conference underlined the necessity to go one step further in order to encourage international competition and exchange of horses. Then, the Conference decided to transform this informal group into a Permanent Liaison Committee on the International Movements of Horses, by extending its composition with members from Asia, South America and Africa.

The Committee was renamed by the IFHA Executive Council in March 2004 : the International Movement of Horses Committee (IMHC).

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The Terms of Reference of the IMHC as approved by the Executive Council of the IFHA on 9 June 2023, are as follows :

• • advise the IFHA Executive Council in relation to matters affecting the health, welfare and international movements of horses, including undertaking tasks and providing reports at the request of the IFHA Executive Council.
  • collaborate with the International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC) to optimise the effectiveness of the IHSC / WOAH public / private partnership in enhancing the health, welfare and international movements of horses.
  • identify impediments to efficient international movements of racehorses, breeding and competition horses and to work towards overcoming such impediments via the IHSC / WOAH public / private partnership.
  • provide expert comment and to represent horse industry views to relevant organizations when instructed to do so by the IFHA Executive Council.
  • propose improvements or modifications to the existing health regulations to the relevant authorities to facilitate the international development of horse racing and the conduct of international competition when instructed to do so by the IFHA Executive Council.
  • promote harmonization of health regulations incorporated in the Rules of Racing of the member countries of the IFHA.
  • obtain and collate equine infectious disease intelligence via members’ reports and international networks and to communicate those issues, risks and any other matters relevant to the international movement of horses to IMHC and IHSC Members and to racing, equestrian and breeding authorities.
  • provide a forum for the communication and discussion of developments in equine infectious disease diagnosis, surveillance and reporting and epidemiology.
  • provide a forum for the communication and discussion of all issues that may impact on the international movement of horses for competition, including assessment of suitability to travel and to participate in competition and transport logistics.
  • work with racing authorities and sporting participants to provide advice, education and support to raise the awareness and competence of racing authorities and their participants in biosecurity, disease surveillance and reporting and the control of equine infectious diseases when instructed to do so by the IFHA Executive Council.
  • implement similar actions for breeding horses and competition horses through the IHSC.

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Members and the organisations / regions represented (as of June 2023) :

Chairman: - Dr Brian Stewart, The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Hong Kong

Secretary : -Dr Anthony Kettle, Equine International Consultancy, Dubai, UAE

Members :

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  - Dr Alper Mete – Jockey Club of Turkey

  - Mr Andrew Chesser - Director, IFHA

  - Dr Craig Suann - Senior Technical Advisor, IFHA

  - Dr C V Niranjan - Turf Authorities of India, India

  - Dr David Craig - Emirates Racing Authority, Dubai, UAE

  - Dr David Sykes

  - Dr Desmond Leadon - International Thoroughbred Breeders Federation, Ireland

  - Mrs Ewa Camara - EU Commission

  - Dr Göran Akerström - FEI, Switzerland

  - Dr Grace Forbes - Racing Victoria Ltd, Australia

  - Dr Hicham Debbagh - SOREC, Morocco

  - Dr Hyung-Ho Im - Korea Racing Authority, Korea

  - Dr James Given – British Horseracing Authority, Great Britain

  - Dr John Grewar - South Equine Health and Protocols, South Africa

  - Dr Katie Flynn – United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), USA

  - Dr Kenneth Lam - The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Hong Kong

  - Dr Khalid I. Al-Yahyan - Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia

  - Dr Lynn Hillyer - Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, Ireland

  - Dr Brenda Low - Singapore Turf Club, Singapore

  - Dr Mauro Meske -World Organisation for Animal Health

  - Mr Oscar Bertoletti - OSAF, Argentina

  - Dr Stephanie Chapman - France Galop, France

  - Dr Shri Kanth -Malayan Racing Association

  - Dr Takashi Yamanaka - The Japan Racing Association, Japan

  - Dr Youssef Kassab - Racing & Equestrian Club, Qatar

   

Documents

IFHA Transportation Welfare Guidelines

OIE Equine Disease Free Zone (EDFZ) Guidelines, 2019

The Committee prepared "Guidelines to facilitate the temporary movement of registered racehorses for international races", which was adopted by the 2002 International Conference.

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Annual report on health problems by Dr Michel BERNADAC, FNCF, France

Click here to read Dr Michel BERNADAC's 2006 report.

Click here to read Dr Michel BERNADAC's 2005 report.

Click here to read Dr Michel BERNADAC's 2004 report.

Click here to read Dr Michel BERNADAC's 2003 report.

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