The U.S. Department of Agriculture is amending the requirements for health certificates accompanying imported Spanish pure breed horses from Spain which specify whether or not the horses were raised on breeding premises.

Instead, APHIS will require that the accompanying health certificate

certify the following:

• Since breeding age, the horses have not been on a farm that is exclusively a breeding premises;
  
• Have not been bred;
  
• Have not attempted to breed; and
  
• Have not been commingled and left unattended with adult horses of the opposite sex.

“We believe that this action will relieve unnecessary restrictions on the importation of Spanish pure breed horses from Spain, while continuing to protect against the introduction and spread of contagious equine metritis into the United States,” said Alfonso Torres, deputy administrator for veterinary services with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a part of USDA’s marketing and regulatory programs mission area