9 CFR 93.314 – Horses, certification, and accompanying equipment
(a) Horses offered for importation from any part of the world shall be accompanied by an original certificate endorsed by a salaried veterinary officer of the national government of the region of origin, or if exported from Mexico, shall be accompanied either by such a certificate or by a certificate issued by a veterinarian accredited by the National Government of Mexico and endorsed by a full-time salaried veterinary officer of the National Government of Mexico, thereby representing that the veterinarian issuing the certificate was authorized to do so. The certificate shall specify the name and address of the importer; the species, breed, number or quantity of horses or horse test specimens to be imported; the purpose of the importation; individual horse identification which requires a description of the horse, name, age, markings and, when present, registration number, tattoo, microchip, eartag, brand, if any; the region and premises of origin; the name and address of the exporter; and the destination address for release into the United States; and shows that:
(1) The horses described in the certificate have been in said region during the 60 days preceding exportation, or, for horses described in § 93.301(g), for the duration of their temporary exportation to each CEM-affected region;
(2) That each horse has been inspected on the premises of origin and found free of evidence of communicable disease and, insofar as can be determined, exposure thereto during the 60 days preceding exportation;
(3) That each horse has not been vaccinated with a live or attenuated or inactivated vaccine during the 14 days preceding exportation: Provided, however, that in specific cases the Administrator may authorize horses that have been vaccinated with an inactivated vaccine to enter the United States when he or she determines that in such cases and under such conditions as he or she may prescribe such importation will not endanger the livestock in the United States, and such horses comply with all other applicable requirements of this part;
(4) The horse, if applicable, has not been gelded during the 14 days preceding exportation;
(5) The horse will be accompanied by documentation of pre-export examination occurring within 48 hours of departure from the port of embarkation endorsed by a salaried veterinary medical officer;
(6) That, insofar as can be determined, no case of African horse sickness, dourine, glanders, surra, epizootic lymphangitis, ulcerative lymphangitis, equine piroplasmosis, Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis, vesicular stomatitis, or equine infectious anemia has occurred on the premises of origin or on adjoining premises during the 60 days preceding exportation; and
(7) That, except as provided in § 93.301(g):
(i) The horses, except horses described in § 93.301(d), (e), and (f), have not been in any region listed in accordance with § 93.301(c)(1) on the APHIS website as affected with CEM during the 12 months immediately prior to their importation into the United States;
(ii) The horses have not been on any premises at any time during which time such premises were found by an official of the veterinary services of the national government of the region where such premises are located, to be affected with CEM;
(iii) The horses have not been bred by or bred to any horses from an affected premises; and
(iv) The horses have had no other contact with horses that have been found to be affected with CEM or with horses that were imported from regions affected with CEM.
(b) If a horse is presented for importation from a region where it has been for less than 60 days, the horse must be accompanied by a certificate that meets the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section that has been issued by a salaried veterinary officer of the national government of each region in which the horse has been during the 60 days immediately preceding its shipment to the United States. The dates during which the horse was in each region during the 60 days immediately preceding its exportation to the United States shall be included as a part of the certification.
(c) Following the port-of-entry inspection required by § 93.306 of this part, and before a horse offered for importation from any part of the world is released from the port of entry, an inspector may require the horse and its accompanying equipment to be disinfected as a precautionary measure against the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease or any other disease dangerous to the livestock of the United States.
(d) For purposes of this section, the term “original” means documentation is prepared and issued directly from the national government of the region of origin or annotated by the national government of the region of origin to indicate how the documentation may be verified. Any declaration, permit, or other required document for horses may be issued and presented using a United States Government electronic information exchange system or other method authorized by APHIS.