The importing of horses to the UK will not be affected in the event of a successful Brexit deal.

In the event that the UK leaves the European Union with a suitable deal, there would be no change to the rules of importing horses into the country right away, but there would be a new system put in place to notify the authorities.

Robin Mounsey of the British Horseracing Authority said; “With the extension to the 31^st of January, movement of horses will continue. The tripartite system that exists between Britain, France and Ireland for thoroughbred horses will continue in the EU.

Our understanding is that if Britain leaves the EU with a deal then the existing arrangement will continue at least through the transition period, so we’re expecting that Britain leaving the EU with a deal will not cause any issue for movement of thoroughbreds from the UK to the EU and vice versa.”

On the other hand, a no-deal departure could have an effect on horses being exported from the UK to the EU but imports would remain the same, with no stringent guidelines being enforced on entries to the country.

Robert continued; “No-deal may cause some alterations to that system. The British government has said that it wouldn’t impose any alterations on movement of horses from the EU to the UK, but movement of horses from the UK to the EU might cause concern of additional logistics, if we had a no deal.

That might include additional checks at borders, health checks. Horses would have to move through a small number of border inspection posts. There would have been additional considerations made on that basis.”

Link to Soundcloud interview – https://soundcloud.com/campbell-finlayson/brexit-horses