Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael's keynote speech to the National Equine Forum

27 March 2003, Royal Veterinary College, Camden, London

Across the world, few animals inspire the same passion, dedication and respect as the horse. This pre-eminence goes back a long way. When humans first tamed and rode horses, the effect on our ancestors' way of life must have been as revolutionary as the invention of the steam engine, the internal combustion engine or flight. Today no animal has so versatile a place in our lives and communities. And in our countries the horse is used for informal recreation, for competitive sport, for thoroughbred racing, sometimes for agriculture. It is a companion animal, a working animal, a semi-wild animal. It defies simple taxonomy. The horse contributes significantly to the character and richness of our national life, whether as an absorbing leisure pastime or through the medal-winning pursuit of international sporting excellence. In particular, it greatly promotes dynamic rural economies, vibrant rural communities, and effective land management.

It is sometimes overlooked that the equine world is a multi-billion pound, multifarious business. It ranges from large enterprises to small concerns, and encompasses many ancillary activities. There are some one million horses in Britain, approaching two and a half million riders, and perhaps two hundred and fifty thousand equine-related jobs. I say "by and large": I find it odd that so important an industry should be relatively poorly documented and analysed. I shall return to this information deficit later.

I am proud to be Minister for the Horse, the third person to hold that responsibility. I regard it as a key part of my role to promote the interests of the industry, and to work with you all to help it thrive even more. I stress the inclusiveness of the task - Government and industry working together - while at the same time noting that the industry's diversity has spawned a huge infrastructure of representative bodies. I am sure it all makes sense to some of you, but it may be more difficult for an outsider to make sense of this.

Each of these bodies - from smallest to largest - performs a valuable role. But we need to ensure that the industry's very diversity does not lead to squandering of effort and effectiveness. This is where the British Horse Industry Confederation, the British Equestrian Federation, the British Horseracing Board and the major umbrella organisations can make such an important contribution, by presenting a robust case for Government which has the support of a wide swathe of industry. They have a vital role to play in making coherent the views of a wide range of organisations.

Although I am the third "Minister for the Horse", it soon became apparent to me that there was a significant flaw in the system: there was no specific and targeted back-up within my department to coordinate our work on equine matters. If an issue came up, I had a range of officials from different areas trying to help. This was equally apparent to many within the industry. I therefore decided to appoint an "Official for the Horse"- Graham Cory - backed by a small Horse Industry Team. They are here today. Their remit is fourfold: to make extensive contacts, and cement productive working relations with the horse industry in England (this is the other side of the coin from coherent representation of the industry); to promote effective bilateral communication on specific issues; to coordinate equine policy, primarily in Defra but also with other Government departments, and to work in partnership with the industry to devise a long-term equine industry strategy.

I am delighted that the British Horse Industry Confederation, the British Equestrian Federation, the British Horse Society, and many more organisations and individuals have so enthusiastically welcomed this initiative and are so wholeheartedly working with the department on matters of mutual concern.

The strategy that I just mentioned will for the first time chart the way ahead for the equine industry. It will set out a vision for where it aspires to be in ten years, and how the Government might support it in following that path. Coming together to shape a common vision will be both a stimulus and a challenge. I have been struck by the lack of a sense of long-term direction and how the individual parts of the horse industry fit into the general vision. I looked for an overall plan. It is not for Government to set out a plan, but rather for the industry working together to lead on setting out its vision, and for us to work with the industry.

As a first step, Defra and the British Horse Industry Confederation intend shortly to jointly commission research to underpin the development of the strategy. This research will: provide a coherent map of the industry and its component sectors; clearly identify the baseline - especially in economic terms - from which the industry is starting; and suggest key issues for the development of the strategy. I have outlined how difficult it is to provide a business plan when the lack of authoritative analysis of the industry is striking. But this is largely in the future. In a moment will give you the latest position on two specific areas which may be of particular interest to you now: horse passports and the associated database; and the control of ragwort, and other health and welfare topics.

But first, hunting with dogs. This has been taking up valuable Parliamentary time for many years. That's why the Government's last manifesto included a commitment to enable Parliament to reach a conclusion. That responsibility was given to me. My Bill will do that by introducing a process under which the need for hunting with dogs - essentially as a method of pest control - can be considered, case-by-case, along with the question of whether hunting is the least cruel method of undertaking a particular utility.

The Bill ensures that necessary pest control can continue, but stops unnecessary suffering by hunting with dogs. So it is not a Bill to ban hunting but to prevent cruelty. I believe that is an objective everybody should be able to sign up to.

That said, I recognise that many people have long since made up your minds. I regard it as a major achievement to have persuaded both sides to agree upon and then to plan together with me, and then to participate in, together, the three days of public hearings at Portcullis House last September. This was not achieved easily. I'm disappointed that greater understanding which I think we did achieve in those hearings didn't lead to changed opinions on the part of the main protagonists - disappointed but not altogether surprised - and that they continue to refer to the views of others antagonistically.

The point I seek to convince you of today is this: the horse industry will carry on, Bill or no Bill, Act or no Act. Those who are not happy have a simple choice: to look backward to what was; or to look forward to what will be, established by legislation.

I remain committed to working with all of you to maximise opportunities for the industry, for example in the field of recreation and tourism, and horse health and all those other issues, so that it continues to be among the fastest growing sectors of the rural economy.

Now I will turn to horse passports. When we consulted on how -- not whether - to implement the European Union legislation, most representative organisations said they wanted all horses to have passports. Indeed, some believed that this could bring real benefits to the industry, such as improved breeding of British competitive horses.

In February last year I announced that, from 31 December this year, all horses would require passports. I am surprised that, despite the widespread acceptance of the need for passports, we still receive criticism for this from some quarters.

The rationale for mandatory horse passports is that, in most member states, horses are intended for human consumption. Passports will provide a necessary protection to ensure they have not been treated with inappropriate veterinary medicines which end up in the food chain.

Now I know we do not eat horsemeat in the UK, but we do export horsemeat to other member states, and we need to protect public health there. We currently benefit from a derogation which allows veterinary medicines to be used on food-producing animals even though those medicines are not properly authorised for such use. If we do not have in place a satisfactory system as far as the rest of Europe is concerned, we risk losing that. The horse industry would protest very loudly indeed if all these medicines were withdrawn from use in horses.

We have worked closely with the industry in drawing up the draft Statutory Instrument which sets out how the EU requirement will be implemented in England. I can tell this forum that we are issuing this draft legislation for comment today. I am keen to hear your considered views by the end of June. We will then finalise the legislation and lay it before Parliament. We will continue to work with you to ensure that it is successfully implemented. As a preliminary step we are considering a publicity campaign, to ensure all horse owners know the requirements.

Associated with that is the database. Last year, your industry made very helpful proposal for the development of a national equine database. It is certainly a logical extension of the registration requirement that we should collect and collate this information centrally, and use it to help the industry develop. It would be useful for veterinary surveillance, and invaluable if a serious disease like West Nile Fever were to occur here. We are therefore engaged in the development of such a central database with the industry.

We recognise also that it would be useful to the industry generally, and to individual horse owners, for such a database to contain additional information such as breeding and competition results. We are working with the British Equestrian Federation to take this forward.

As I have told my officials this week I am disappointed that we have not made faster progress, but I am realistic about the difficulties that have to be overcome. While a database is a simple idea in principle, there are significant issues to resolve. There are EU state aid rules. And we should not forget that a previous commercial venture has folded. This time we only have one chance to get it right and that's what we want to do.

My officials have been working with the BEF on the project and I have stated my intention to chair a meeting personally with them early in April to make sure we overcome the outstanding problems.

Now to ragwort control. Many of you will know of the Private Member's Bill introduced by John Greenway MP. The Second Reading debate took place last Friday. I discussed the options for achieving legislation with John and the British Horse Society in advance, and offered my support for what he is trying to achieve.

A core element of the Bill is a Code of Practice. This would ensure that landowners who are required to clear their land of ragwort understand exactly what they need to do. It would help local authorities and other statutory organisations to assess the risk, and plan the most effective use of resources to prevent the spread of ragwort. It could also aid enforcement of the Weeds Act by simplifying the preparation of evidence.

However, other aspects of the Bill as originally drafted would impose unacceptable financial burdens on statutory undertakers. I, therefore, made it clear that if John Greenway were prepared to delete these provisions at committee stage, the Government would support a Bill giving statutory effect to a Code of Practice. I am delighted to say that he agreed, and the House voted for the Bill to progress and be considered in detail by a Standing Committee. I will be meeting him next week to discuss further detail.

I had discussed the ragwort problem with the British Horse Society some time ago and we had already started work with the society to prepare a Code of Practice. We'll finance production of the code, and that work should greatly help the progress of the Bill.

We are also reviewing the way that Defra pursues its responsibilities under the Weeds Act, within the existing resource constraints. And following some discussion with officials, I personally believe that changes can be made to benefit horse owners and I hope to be able to say more about that in the near future.

Ragwort control is but one example of where Government and industry working together constructively to achieve a satisfactory outcome. We are also very much concerned with other aspects of equine health and welfare. Three instances: preparing contingency plans for West Nile Virus and other key horse diseases; consulting on a new Animal Health and Welfare Strategy; and preparing an Animal Welfare Bill, which would replace antiquated laws with a pro-active approach. Elliot Morley is leading on that, but I speak to him regularly on issues relating to the horse industry.

If I were to condense all my remarks into three, clear messages, they would be these: First, as Minister for the Horse, I am personally committed to working with the industry to secure its long-term future as a major component of the economic and social fabric of rural England. This commitment is in no way diminished by the fact that, on one issue at least, there is likely to remain a fundamental difference of view between some of us. The Rural Affairs Forum for England and the regional forums are really assisting with that wider development. I am very pleased with the British Horse Society's engagement with the forum. Second, constructive dialogue at all levels: national forums such as this, small working groups involving industry and departmental representatives, and one-to-one meetings with those from across the spectrum of equine interests. These are all essential if we are successfully to address the many difficult issues which will continue to confront us. And what matters is not that we should always agree on the detail, but that we should focus on long-term goals, and improve the quality of communications both ways. Third, Great Britain has an international reputation for equestrian excellence. The prospects: for building upon that reputation, for developing equestrianism at all levels - from that of novice to multiple medal-winning competitors - I know that's a priority for the British Equestrian Federation - and for securing the future of the industry for years ahead will be greatly enhanced if we continue to work together cooperatively and in good faith as we have so successfully begun to do.