Owners should be aware of the new minimum operating standards for UK approved Passport Issuing Organisations, which are now in operation.

The key changes relate to reporting of possible fraud and breaches of the law; the main points are listed below:

• Any application for registration received later that the 31st December in the animal’s year of birth or within 6 months of birth (whichever is later), will need to be reported to Trading Standards.
• Any notification of a transfer of ownership received after 30 days of the transfer, will need to be notified to Trading Standards.
• Any notification of a death of an animal received after 30 days of it passing will need to be notified to Trading Standards.
• Any suspected tampering or fraud to a Passport has to be reported to Trading Standards.

Owners should take note of these standards as they could result in fines by Trading Standards or some form of action taken where they are not met.

Further information can be found on the DEFRA website : www.gov.uk/horse-passport/overview

Passports Issued Before 2004

Any BPS passport issued before 2004 should be checked to see if there is a sheet in it headed Medicinal Treatment. If there is not, please send the passport to the BPS Office for this page to be added free of charge.