To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on negotiations on changes to the Tripartite Agreement on the movement of horses between France, Ireland and the UK.

Officials and industry representatives from the signatory countries met in Dublin on 11 July and made encouraging progress toward changing the scope of the Tripartite Agreement (TPA). All three countries hope that it will be possible to ratify a new agreement in the autumn.

At the meeting there was agreement in principle that the TPA should be limited to horses with a demonstrably high health status. A new agreement would be based on assurances provided by industry bodies through the verifiable observance of codes of practice or other established good practice.

Changes to the TPA will be limited to the movement of horses between the UK and France and Ireland and France. All horse movements that fall outside the scope of a new TPA would need to be accompanied by an EU health certificate. The UK equine sector has been closely involved in these negotiations and we will write to interested organisations shortly with further details.