Horses to have passports

All horses in the EU will need a passport from next year even if they are not travelling.

The latest European Commission regulation is intended to better identify horses and other members of the equine family, such as donkeys and mules, in the EU.

The new regulation follows four years of negotiations and consultations with member states and the horse-breeding industry.

The rules state that every horse must have an electronic chip - which matches a paper passport - injected into its neck. The number of the chip and passport will then be recorded in a database.

Horses are not the first animals to have a passport in the EU. Domestic animals such as dogs and cats need a passport to travel around the continent.

Apart from identification issues, the new rules are also intended to help fight animal diseases and ensure that any animal destined for consumption has not been treated with drugs that may be harmful to humans.

A horse destined for slaughter can either be permanently removed or suspended for six months from the food chain if it has undergone a particular course of medical treatment. Free-roaming horses are also exempted from the new rules.

Horsemeat is very popular in a number of EU member states.

In Malta, laħam taż-żiemel is considered to be a typical dish and tens of horses are slaughtered every year for their meat.

Italy is regarded as the top consumer of horsemeat in the EU. Statistics show that in 2005, 213,000 horses, amounting to 48,000 tonnes of meat were slaughtered. Horsemeat also features in popular dishes in several other EU member states, including Austria, Belgium, Iceland and Slovenia.