Livestock movements, identification and tracing: horses - National Equine Database
The Government is working in collaboration with the equine industry in order to establish a National Equine Database that will record details of every horse issued with a passport.
The information will, initially, be used to monitor the issuing of horse passports that are required under European Union legislation. Having details of all horses and their owners on a central database may help towards the prevention of theft or at least aid the early recovery of horses. Eventually, it is intended that additional information will be collected that will improve the Government's ability to carry out veterinary surveillance and, if necessary, disease control of horses. The information gathered will also assist in the development of effective economic strategies for the UK horse industry.
The National Equine Database will also act as a platform for the equine industry to centrally collect information relating to breeding and performance evaluation. This information will be supplied to the database on a voluntary basis by both Passport Issuing Organisations (PIOs) and the competition disciplines. It is envisaged that this information will enable an improvement in the overall quality and competitiveness of horses in this country. Information from the database on breeding and performance will be made available to the public for a fee.
The National Equine Database will be managed by a joint Government and Industry company called National Equine Database Limited. Until this is established, a shadow NED Board meets regularly and governs the NED Project.
The development and the ongoing maintenance of the National Equine Database was procured during the first half of 2004 according to Office of Government Commerce rules. As a result of this competitive tender, a contract was awarded to Momenta, part of AEA Technology PLC on 16th June 2004 for a term of 2 years.
Although we initially intended the launch the database in 2005, the project proved more complicated than expected and subsequently delayed. However, this delay has enabled us to incorporate suggestions for improvement we received from the industry, which has resulted in a much better system.
The first stage of the database, which involves the phased roll-out of NED to PIOs and enables them to enter information from horse passports, was launched on 24 April and will last for a period of 8 weeks. The system will undergo a further phase of development before being made available to the public.
For more information of the National Equine Database, visit NED Online at: www.nedonline.co.uk.
- Information about the Data Protection Act implications for the National Equine Database has been published
- The Henley Executive Summary
(183 KB) - National Equine Database Overview
(936 KB)
Minutes of the shadow National Equine Database Board meetings
- Twentieth meeting, 29 March 2007 (30 KB)
- Nineteenth meeting, 7 February 2007 (30 KB)
- Eighteenth meeting, 23 November 2006
- Seventeenth meeting, 9 October
2006
(45 KB)
- Sixteenth meeting, 6 September
2006
(16 KB)
- Fifteenth meeting, 18 July
2006
(15 KB)
- Fourteenth meeting, 20 April
2006
(16 KB)
- Thirteenth meeting, 16 February
2006
(31 KB)
- Twelfth meeting, 06 December
2005
(24 KB)
- Eleventh meeting, 26 October
2005
(33 KB)
- Tenth meeting, 15 September
2005
(18 KB)
To request previous versions of the minutes please contact the Defra Helpline: 08459 335577.
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Page last modified:
14 January, 2008
Page published: 12 February, 2007