§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many horse passports had been issued by the issuing authorities by 1 May; how many applications received are awaiting issue; how many she expects to be issued by 30 June; and what percentage of the horse-owning population she expects to comply. [173101]
§ Alun MichaelAs of 1 May, Defra have been notified of a minimum of 179,000 passports issued. This figure will increase as we are waiting for some Passport Issuing Organisations to inform us about how many passports they have issued.
The above figure includes passports returned to Passport Issuing Organisations for updating in order that they meet the new European requirements.
Passport Issuing Organisations based in England have approximately 37,000 outstanding passport applications.
All horse owners will be expected to comply with the regulations.