Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2021
990. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of horses exported from Ireland to China in the past ten years; the method of transport of those horses in tabular form; and if he has concerns in relation to the fate of these animals in a country with no animal welfare laws. [24468/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn 2012, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney and Chinese Vice Minister Wei Chuanzhong signed a protocol agreeing animal health requirements and detailed rules for the establishment, within Ireland, of quarantine facilities to facilitate the direct export of horses to China and so reduce, significantly, the costs associated with such exports.
Before the new protocol was signed, horses had to complete quarantine in another EU State which would then process the transit.
The protocol was designed to assist in developing what was a new Irish direct export market for the Irish thoroughbred industry.
The first consignment direct from Ireland arrived in May 2014. Since then, the following numbers of horses were exported directly to China:
2019 21 horses
2018 9 horses
2017 64 horses
2016 72 horses
2015 14 horses
2014 29 horses
All horses would have been flown, usually by a chartered airplane.
No horses were exported in 2020 due to COVID 19.
In 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the General Administration of Sport of China issued a joint notice advising of a new scheme for the development of horse industry from 2020 to 2025. China has committed to further improving the control system for drugs and prohibited substances in horses, gradually establishing a horse welfare system in line with international standards and plans to release an annual report on the credibility of China's horse racing.
