Import of horses from third countries (non-EU and EEA countries)
The import of horses from countries outside the EEA (EU- and EFTA-states) is governed by the regulations listed under "Applicable rules" at the bottom of the page.
Main points relating to the import of horses
Importing horses into Norway involves several steps. This summary gives you an overview of the process.
1. Registration of importers
Before the horse is imported into Norway, the importer and first recipient must be registered with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. This is done via the Authority’s forms service, Mattilsynets skjematjenester, on the form “New importer of live animals, breeding products and live aquatic animals”. You can find the form on the “Other forms” tab, after logging in to the forms service. Here you enter information about the importer, first recipient and tariff number. Questions about tariff numbers and fees should be addressed to Norwegian Customs (toll.no).
You log in to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority’s forms service via AltInn. Anyone without a Norwegian social security number, and companies not entered in the Central Register of Legal Entities, cannot use the Norwegian Food Safety Authority’s forms service. They must notify the Norwegian Food Safety Authority by e-mail or letter.
2. Animal health requirements
Animal health requirements laid down for import from an approved third country are set out in the EU-legislation. Please note that special safety measures may apply to some countries.
3. Notification of import
The import must be reported via TRACES no later than 24 hours before the horse arrives at the border control station.
In TRACES, the veterinarian fills out the CVED (Common Veterinary Entry Document) and sends it electronically to the border control station.
More information about TRACES (europa.eu)
4. Health certificate and equine passport
The horse must be accompanied by an approved health certificate (TRACES) in the original, completed by an official veterinarian in the country of dispatch. Any required laboratory tests must be carried out in a laboratory approved by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.
The equine must be accompanied by an identification document (horse passport) issued in accordance to the EU-legislation.
If the horse is imported permanently (kept in Norway for more than 90 days) the horse passport must be sent to a Norwegian passport-issuing body no later than 30 days after the customs procedure has been completed. The passport-issuing body for the relevant category of horse can be found on this web-page; Equine passports and health cards (Norwegian)
The passport-issuing body assesses if the passport issued in the third country fulfils the requirements of the EU-legislation. Depending on the result of the assessment, the passport issuing body might have to issue a new passport for the horse. In addition, the passport-issuing body must record identity details of the horse.
Exceptions to this requirement are temporary stays for stallions during the covering season, horses staying at a veterinary clinic for medical reasons, and horses slaughtered no later than 10 days after importation.
More information about equine passports and health cards (Norwegian)
5. Veterinary border controls
Horses from third countries must be brought into the EEA area through an approved border control station, where a veterinary border control will be carried out. Horses imported via other EU- og EFTA-states must undergo veterinary border controls at an approved border control station in the state where they enter the EEA-area (EU- og EFTA-country). No these cases no new veterinary border control is required in Norway.
In Norway we have two border control stations for horses:
Gardermoen Airport (Oslo)
Tel.: (+47) 22 77 79 00
Fax: (+47) 64 82 04 01
E-mail: BIP-osloairport@mattilsynet.no
Storskog (Kirkenes)
Tel.: (+47) 957 79 121
Fax: (+47) 78 99 75 00
E-mail: BIP-Storskog@mattilsynet.no
6. Transfer from the destination
The horse may not be moved from the destination in the first two days after arrival. This is because the Norwegian Food Safety Authority must be able to inspect horses and documents.
7. Register
The importer/first recipient must maintain a register of horses received and this, including health certificates, must be retained for at least ten years. The recipient is required to notify the Norwegian Food Safety Authority if the identity of the horse does not match the documents. Registers and health certificates must be presented to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority on request.
See also: Information on customs regulations for the import of horses (toll.no)
Regulations
Dyrehelseforskriften
§ 4. Dyrehelseforordningen
Source: Lovdata.no
Regulation (EU) 2016/429, articles 84, 87, 229, 234, 237
Article 84
Obligation of operators to register establishments
1. Operators of establishments keeping terrestrial animals or collecting, producing, processing or storing germinal products shall, in order for their establishments to be registered in accordance with Article 93, before they commence such activities:
(a) inform the competent authority of any such establishment under their responsibility;
(b) provide the competent authority with the following information:
(i) the name and address of the operator concerned;
(ii) the location of the establishment and a description of its facilities;
(iii) the categories, species and numbers or quantities of kept terrestrial animals or germinal products which they intend to keep on the establishment, and the capacity of the establishment;
(iv) the type of establishment; and
(v) any other aspects of the establishment which are relevant for the purpose of determining the risk posed by it.
2. Operators of establishments referred to in paragraph 1 shall inform the competent authority of:
(a) any changes in the establishment in question concerning the matters referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1;
(b) any cessation of activity by the operator or establishment concerned.
3. Establishments which are subject to approval in accordance with Article 94(1) shall not be required to provide the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 87
Registration obligations of transporters of kept ungulates and delegated acts
1. Transporters of kept ungulates engaged in the transportation of those animals between Member States or between a Member State and a third country shall, in order to be registered in accordance with Article 93, before they commence such activities:
(a) inform the competent authority of their activity;
(b) provide that competent authority with information on:
(i) the name and address of the transporter concerned;
(ii) the categories, species and numbers of kept ungulates for which transportation is planned;
(iii) the type of transport;
(iv) the means of transport.
2. Transporters as referred to in paragraph 1 shall inform the competent authority of:
(a) any changes concerning the matters referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1;
(b) any cessation of the transport activity.
3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 264 supplementing the rules provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article, requiring other types of transporters whose transport activity poses specific and significant risks for certain species or categories of animals to provide adequate information for the purposes of registration of their activity.
Article 229
Requirements for entry into the Union of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin
1. Member States shall permit the entry into the Union of consignments of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin from third countries or territories only if those consignments fulfil the following requirements, unless such animals, germinal products or products of animal origin are covered by a derogation granted pursuant to Article 239(2):
(a) without prejudice to Article 230(2), they come from a third country or territory listed in accordance with Article 230(1) for the particular species and category of animals, or germinal products or products of animal origin concerned, or from a zone or compartment thereof;
(b) they come from establishments which are approved and listed, where such approval and listing is required by Article 233;
(c) they fulfil the animal health requirements for entry into the Union laid down in Article 234(1) and in any delegated acts adopted pursuant to Article 234(2), where such requirements are laid down for the animal, germinal product or product of animal origin concerned;
(d) they are accompanied by an animal health certificate and by declarations and other documents where required by Article 237(1) or by rules adopted pursuant to Article 237(4);
2. The operators responsible for the consignment in question shall present consignments of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin from third countries or territories for the purposes of official control as provided for in Article 3 of Directive 91/496/EEC and Article 3 of Directive 97/78/EC.
Article 234
Animal health requirements for the entry into the Union of species and categories of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin
1. The animal health requirements for the entry into the Union of species and categories of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin from third countries or territories shall:
(a) be as stringent as the animal health requirements laid down in this Regulation and in the rules adopted pursuant thereto applicable to movements of the species and categories of animals, germinal products or products of animal origin in question within the Union; or
(b) offer equivalent guarantees to the animal health requirements applicable to the species and categories of animals, germinal products or products of animal origin provided for in Part IV (Articles 84 to 228) of this Regulation.
2. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 264 concerning the animal health requirements for:
(a) the entry into the Union of species and categories of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin from third countries or territories;
(b) the movement within the Union and handling of those animals, germinal products and products of animal origin after their entry into the Union, where this is necessary in order to mitigate the risk involved.
3. Pending the adoption of delegated acts laying down animal health requirements as regards a particular species and category of animal, germinal product or product of animal origin provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article, Members State may, following an evaluation of the risks involved, apply national rules, provided that those rules comply with the requirements laid down in that paragraph and provided that they take into account the matters referred to in Articles 235 and 236.
Article 237
Animal health certificates, declarations and other documents for entry into the Union
1. Member States shall only permit the entry into the Union of consignments of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin if such consignments are accompanied by one or both of the following:
(a) an animal health certificate issued by the competent authority of the third country or territory of origin, unless a derogation is provided for in point (a) of paragraph 4;
(b) declarations or other documents, where required by the rules adopted pursuant to point (b) of paragraph 4.
2. Member States shall not permit the entry into the Union of consignments of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin unless the animal health certificate referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 has been verified and signed by an official veterinarian in a third country or territory in compliance with certification requirements equivalent to those laid down in Article 149(3) or 216(3) and any rules adopted pursuant to Article 149(4) or 216(4).
3. Member States shall permit electronic animal health certificates that are produced, handled and transmitted by means of Traces to replace the accompanying animal health certificates referred to in paragraph 1, where such electronic animal health certificates:
(a) contain all the information that the animal health certificate referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 of this Article is required to contain in accordance with Article 238(1) and any rules adopted pursuant to Article 238(3);
(b) ensure the traceability of the consignments of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin concerned and link those consignments to the electronic animal health certificate.
4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 264 concerning:
(a) derogations from the animal health certificate requirements provided for in point (a) of paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 of this Article, for consignments of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin, and in specific rules for the animal health certification of those consignments, where the consignments in question pose an insignificant risk to animal health or public health within the Union, due to one or more of the following factors:
(i) the species and categories of animals, germinal products or products of animal origin concerned;
(ii) the methods of keeping and types of production of the animals, germinal products and products of animal origin concerned;
(iii) their intended use;
(iv) alternative risk-mitigation measures which are in place in the third countries or territories of origin or transit, or after their arrival into the territory of the Union, affording equivalent protection of animal health and public health within the Union as provided for in this Regulation;
(v) the provision by the third country or territory concerned of guarantees of compliance with the requirements for entry into the Union, demonstrated by means other than an animal health certificate;
(b)
rules requiring consignments of animals, germinal products and products of animal origin entering into the Union to be accompanied by declarations or other documents needed to demonstrate that the animals, germinal products and products of animal origin in question meet the animal health requirements for entry into the Union laid down in rules adopted pursuant to Article 234(2).
Dyreimportforskriften
§ 3. Import fra tredjestater
Source: Lovdata.no