Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Conservative) on Monday, 7 January 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 9 January 2008. It was answered by Jonathan Shaw (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 January 2008 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Horses: Databases

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in the development of the National Equine Database; and what the projected completion date is for this project.

Answer: The core element of the National Equine Database (NED), which contains basic horse and owner identification details, was launched in April 2006. This database is used by the Government to support the EU Horse Passport Legislation (2000/68EC), as well as contributing to the surveillance and control of exotic equine diseases.Recently, the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) has, on behalf of the equine industry, agreed to take over responsibility for completing the NED project which will involve the delivery of NED Online, a website containing horse performance and pedigree information to enable the improvement of the overall quality and competitiveness of horses in the UK. We expect NED online to be launched later this year.

Secondary information