Language selection

Search

Chapter 6 – Export to Mexico
6.2 Horses (updated December 2019)

This page is part of the Guidance Document Repository (GDR).

Looking for related documents?
Search for related documents in the Guidance Document Repository

6.2A Re-entry to Mexico

Health certification

1. The veterinary health certificate is the HA1263 Export of horses to Mexico / Exportación de caballos a México.

2. The status of the HA1263 certificate must be verified with the local CFIA district office before beginning testing to ensure that the certificate is current and matches the "hoja de requisitos" and that Canada is free of diseases mentioned in article 1 of the export certificate.

3. Animals must be individually identified with a microchip with the number included on the health certificate.

The animals need to have an additional proof of identification (for example: the FEI passport or the Identification addendum for horses exported from Canada to Mexico) that clearly and uniquely identifies the animals and includes verifiable visual characteristics. The microchip number must also be included on this identification document. A pdf fillable copy of the addendum is available at the CFIA district office, if needed.

4. The horses must have been in Canada for 60 days prior to shipping. The animals must be officially isolated for three weeks prior to exportation. The accredited veterinarian must approve an isolation area within the facility. The isolation area must prevent any nose-to-nose contact with other animals not intended for export to Mexico. In order to be recognized as an "official" isolation, the accredited veterinarian must declare to the CFIA district office all the information related to the isolation facility (name and address of the facility, description of the isolation area, contact name and telephone number of the stable manager, start date of isolation and intended export date), within 5 days after the beginning of the isolation period. CFIA employees may visit the facility at their discretion.

Note: The 60-day residency period and 3 week isolation requirements do not apply to sport horses over 4 years old dedicated to jumping, dressage and full events, exported temporarily to Mexico. Those horses must have remained in North America (Canada, United States and Mexico) in the last 3 weeks under veterinary supervision, and have not had signs compatible with infectious or contagious diseases.

5. The premises of origin have not been in quarantine, and have not had reported cases of dourine, glanders, surra, equine coital exanthema, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, epizootic lymphangitis, ulcerative lymphangitis, and infection by Salmonella abortus equi.

6. The horses were not vaccinated with live or attenuated vaccines during the thirty (30) days prior to exportation.

7. Vehicles used to transport the horses must be cleaned and disinfected before loading, and can only carry horses qualified for export to Mexico during the trip.

Certification procedure

8. The animals must be inspected prior to exportation and found healthy without any evidence of infectious or contagious diseases and free of ectoparasites or fresh wounds.

9. The animals must be tested for equine infectious anemia using the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test or the ELISA test with negative results within six (6) months before exportation. An EIA test certificate that has an inaccurate description or drawing of the horse cannot be used to support certification for export. An accredited veterinarian is not authorized to modify any information written on an EIA test certificate once test results have been recorded. In order to certify a horse in this situation, the accredited veterinarian may, at the owner’s request, re-sample the horse for testing and wait for the new result before export certification may be completed.

10. The animals must be either tested or vaccinated for the following diseases: equine viral arteritis, eastern and western encephalitis (EEE and WEE) and equine rhinopneumonitis. It is highly recommended that vaccinations be chosen. All vaccinations using live or attenuated vaccines must have been given more than 30 days prior to exportation. If the animals have to be tested for one of these diseases, the test must be performed within 60 days of exportation. The accredited veterinarian must contact the district office to obtain instructions about the testing procedure. Samples for equine viral arteritis and equine encephalitis may be analyzed in CFIA laboratories. In these cases, the instructions provided in section 3.2 of the manual "Serologic Testing" must be followed and a specific notification number must be obtained from the district office. CFIA laboratories do not perform tests for equine rhinopneumonitis. If a test is required, a private laboratory that meets the requirement of the Policy on the Use of External Laboratories for Export Testing must be selected. CFIA district office must be contacted to obtain more information about this policy before samples are sent to a private laboratory.

11. Animals must be vaccinated against influenza and the vaccination must be valid. No vaccination with a live or attenuated vaccine is permitted within 30 days of export.

How to complete the Canadian health certificate (HA1263)

12. The accredited veterinarian must use the most recent version of the HA1263.

13. Mexican authorities do not accept hand written certificates. The certificate must be typed. A fillable PDF certificate is available through the district office. The reference number should be requested in advance from the district office, to avoid hand writing it on the certificate.

14. Vaccinations and tests must be reported in Table 1. In the case of vaccination, the name of the vaccine, lot number and date of vaccination are required. For eastern and western equine encephalitis, the last two vaccination dates are required. In the case of tests, the test type and negative test result "N" must be indicated.

15. The accredited veterinarian must complete the export health certificate in English by entering all required information according to the directions provided above. The "Reference number" is provided by the CFIA district office. The completed health certificate along with a copy of the EIA test result shall be submitted to a CFIA veterinary inspector to review and, if all the requirements have been met, the certificate will be endorsed. An incomplete export certificate will be returned to the accredited veterinarian to be completed. A fee will be charged for the CFIA's endorsement. Endorsed certificates will be returned to the accredited veterinarian. The health certificate is valid for a period of 30 days from the date of inspection recorded on the certificate.

6.2A Re-entry to Mexico

  1. The veterinary health certificate is the HA2883 Re-export of horses to Mexico. This certificate is valid for the return to Mexico, within 60 days of the horses being imported into Canada.
  2. There are no test requirements.
  3. Canada must be free of contagious equine metritis and foot-and-mouth disease.
  4. At inspection prior to return, the animals were found clinically healthy and free of ectoparasites and without any open wounds; animals with myiasis or fresh wounds are not accepted. The horses haven't presented any signs of infectious or transmissible disease during their stay and have been isolated from horses with an inferior health status.
  5. The horses did not have reproductive activity during their stay in Canada.
  6. The horses were not in premises where Taylorella equigenitalis was detected, nor in premises under quarantine, nor under investigation for Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM).
  7. Mexican authorities do not accept hand written certificates. The certificate must be typed. A fillable PDF certificate is available through the district office. The "Reference number" should be requested in advance from the district office, to avoid hand writing it on the certificate.
  8. The accredited veterinarian must complete the export health certificate in English by entering all required information. The completed health certificate shall be submitted to a CFIA veterinary inspector to review and, if all the requirements have been met, the certificate will be endorsed. An incomplete export certificate will be returned to the accredited veterinarian to be completed. A fee will be charged for the CFIA's endorsement. Endorsed certificates will be returned to the accredited veterinarian.

References

Copies of certificates HA1263 and HA2883 are available at the CFIA district office.

Date modified: