English version
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★If Korean version and English version of this notice conflict, Korean version shall prevail.MAFRA Notice No. 2015-152
Under Article 34.2 of the Contagious Animal Diseases Prevention Act , MAFRA revises the import health requirements for
horses as follows.
November 09, 2015
Minister of MAFRA
Import health requirements for horses
Article 1 (Objective) The objective of this notice is to stipulate necessary conditions such as quarantine and animal
health situations with regards to horses (animals of equidae such as horses, mules and donkeys. Hereinafter referred to
as the “horses for export”) exported to the Republic of Korea.
Article 2 (Requirement of animal disease freedom) ①For 2 years prior to shipment of the horses for export, any region
or state where the horses for export stayed for 60 days prior to the day of export shipment must have been free of
dourine, glanders, African horse sickness and vesicular stomatitis, and vaccination against the above mentioned diseases
should not be conducted in the region or state.
②Any region or state where the horses for export stayed for 60 days prior to the day of export shipment must have
been free of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis for at least 2 years prior to the shipment of the horses for export and
the horses for export has not been vaccinated against Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis within 60 days prior to the
day of export shipment.
③Any region or state where the horses for export stayed for 60 days prior to the day of export shipment must have
been free of West Nile fever for at least 60 days prior to the shipment of the horses for export. However, as for a
region or state where West Nile fever has occurred, the horses for export must be tested negative in a test for West
Nile virus as specified in Appendix 1, or receive vaccination.
④Any premises where the horses for export stayed for 60 days prior to the day of export shipment must have been
free from equine infectious anemia, equine contagious metritis, equine piroplasmosis, equine viral arteritis, strangles,
rabies, horse pox, horse mange, equine infectious abortion, surra, epizootic lymphangitis and anthrax for 6 months
prior to shipment of the horses for export.
Article 3 (Export Quarantine) ①The horses for export shall have been continuously resident for at least 7 days
immediately prior to shipment in a quarantine facility or premises which has been approved by the competent authority
of the exporting country and supervised by a veterinarian.
②During the export quarantine, the horses for export must not come in contact with any horses other than those to
be exported to Korea.
③The horses for export must remain healthy and free from clinical signs of infectious or contagious diseases, and
checked negative against ectoparasites.
④After entering the export quarantine, the horses for export must be tested negative in the tests for diseases listed in
Appendix 1 in a laboratory approved by the exporting country. However, regardless of the testing requirements under
Appendix 1, even if equine encephalomyelitis occurred in the country, tests for equine encephalomyelitis (eastern and
western) may be omitted in case the horses are proved to have met the requirements specified in below subparagraphs.
1. The horses for export must not exhibit clinical signs of equine encephalomyelitis on the day of shipment and for 3
months prior to shipment.
2. The horses for export must be resident in a quarantine facility or premises and be protected from insect vectors
while being under quarantine and transported to shipping area. Or, they must be vaccinated against equine
encephalomyelitis between 15 days and a year prior to shipment.
⑤Vaccination against equine viral arteritis (EVA) is allowed only to stallions and the testing requirements for stallions
vaccinated against EVA as specified in Appendix 2 must be complied with. In addition, when importing a stallion
vaccinated against EVA to conduct natural mating tests during the import quarantine inspection in Korea, two mares
found to be EVA-negative must be imported.English version
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★If Korean version and English version of this notice conflict, Korean version shall prevail.⑥The horses for export must receive the primary course or booster vaccination against equine influenza (EI) between
21 days and 90 days prior to shipment. However, in case the exporting country is free of EI for at least 2 years prior to
shipment of the horses for export, the vaccination may be omitted.
Article 4 (Export Health Certificate) The government veterinarian of the exporting country must issue an export health
certificate in Korean or English that provides the following information before the shipment of the horses for export.
1. Information specified in Article 3.
2. Information specified in Article 4 and the testing date, testing method and test results per horse in accordance with
Appendix 1. For stallions vaccinated against EVA (including mares for testing), information below will also be required
pursuant to the requirements in the Appendix 2.
1) Pre-vaccination test: date of blood collection, testing date, testing method and the result
2) Post-vaccination test: date of blood collection, testing date, testing method and the result (per test)
3) Mating tests
(1) Pre-mating test: date of blood collection, testing date, testing method and the result
(2) Post-mating test: date of mating, date of blood collection, testing date, testing method, the result and clinical
signs of mares for testing until the end of export quarantine
4) Semen virus isolation test: date of semen collection, testing date, testing method and the result
3. Identification number, sex and the age of the horses for export
4. If vaccinated, the name of the vaccine and the date of vaccination
5. Name and address of the export quarantine facility or premises, and the duration of the export quarantine
5-1. Name and address of any premises where the horses for export stayed for 60 days prior to the day of export
shipment, and the duration of stay (per premises)
6. Name of the vessel or the aircraft, the date of shipment and the place of shipment
7. Name (company name) and address of the consignor and the consignee
8. Date of the health certificate issuance, the place of issuance, name of the issuing organization, the issuer’s position,
name and signature
Article 5 (Requirements for Hay, Litter) Hay, litter and fodder used during quarantine or transportation must be sanitary
and free of contamination from pathogens of infectious animal diseases. They must not be purchased in addition en
route to the destination.
Article 6 (Transportation) During the time the horses for export are transported on board the ship or aircraft, any horses
other than those with the same health status must not be carried in the same ship or aircraft.
Article 7 (Disinfection) Crates, vehicles, and loading spaces of vessels and aircrafts that are used in the transportation of
horses for export must be cleaned before use and disinfected using disinfectants recognized by the government of the
exporting country.
Article 8 (Disqualification) The Korean Government may return or destroy the horses when non-compliance to these
requirements is found or infectious animal disease is identified during the import quarantine inspection on the horses for
export.
Addendum <No. 2015-132, September 16, 2015>
Article 1 (Effective day) This notification shall be effective from October 16, 2015.
Article 2 (Review deadline) The Minister of MAFRA must take actions on this notification such as making improvements
by reviewing the validity at the time marking an interval of three years starting Jan 1, 2016 (meaning until Dec 31 in the
third year).English version
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★If Korean version and English version of this notice conflict, Korean version shall prevail.Article 3 (Interim measures) Horses imported in accordance with the Import Health Requirements for Horses (MAFRA
Notification No. 2013-264, Oct 7, 2013) at the time of enforcement of this notification is deemed to have followed this
import health requirements.
Addendum <No. 2015-152, November 9, 2015>
Article 1 (Effective day) This notification shall be effective from November 9, 2015.
Article 2 (Review deadline) The Minister of MAFRA must take actions on this notification such as making improvements
by reviewing the validity at the time marking an interval of three years starting Jan 1, 2016 (meaning until Dec 31 in the
third year).
Article 3 (Interim measures) Horses imported in accordance with the Import Health Requirements for Horses (MAFRA
Notification No. 2015-132, Sep.16, 2015) at the time of enforcement of this notification is deemed to have followed this
import health requirements.English version
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★If Korean version and English version of this notice conflict, Korean version shall prevail.[Appendix 1]
Disease required for testing and test methods
DiseaseRequired test method
Affected countries Disease-free countries
Japanese equine encephalitis vaccination recommended vaccination recommended
Equine rhinopneumonitis vaccination recommended vaccination recommended
Getah virus infection vaccination recommended vaccination recommended
Tetanusantiserum inoculation within 7
days prior to shipment
recommendedantiserum inoculation within 7 days prior to
shipment recommended
African horse sicknessnegative by Agar-gel
immunodiffusion (AGID) testeither negative by AGID test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
Dourinenegative by complement
fixation (CF) testeither tested negative by CF test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
Glanders negative by CF or Mallein testeither tested negative by CF or Mallein test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
Vesicular stomatitisnegative by serum
neutralization (SN) testeither tested negative by SN test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
Venezuelan equine
encephalitisnegative by Haemagglutination
inhibition (HI) or CF testeither tested negative by HI or CF test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
Equine encephalomyelitis
(e.g. eastern and western)· Unvaccinated horses:
negative by HI or CF test
· Vaccinated horses (only
those vaccinated with
inactivated vaccines):
- no rise in titres measured in
two HI or CF tests at 2 weeks
intervaleither negative by HI or CF test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
Equine infectious anemia negative by AGID testeither tested negative by AGID test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
Equine piroplasmosis
(Theileria equi andBabesia
caballi )negative by ELISA or indirect
fluorescent antibody testeither negative by serological test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
Equine viral arteritisnegative in SN test (excluding
vaccinated stallions)either negative by SN test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
(excluding vaccinated stallions)
Equine infectious abortionnegative in serum
agglutination testeither negative by serum agglutination test,
orcertify country freedom for the past 2 years
Equine influenza, Japanese
equine encephalitis, Getah
virus infection, contagious
equine metritis, rabies, horse
pox, horse mange, surra,
strangles, epizootic
lymphangitis, equine
rhinopneumonitisNegative in the clinical examination or in a test conducted by the government of
the exporting country
West Nile fever․negative by serological test (test conducted by the government of the exporting
country such as ELISA), or
․for horses that are not previously vaccinated with the inactivated West Nile virus
(WNV) vaccine : two rounds of vaccinations with inactivated WNV vaccines at an
interval of 21-42 days within one year prior to shipment, or
․for horses previously vaccinated with an inactivated WNV vaccine: a single
vaccination with an inactivated WNV vaccine within one year prior to shipmentEnglish version
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★If Korean version and English version of this notice conflict, Korean version shall prevail.[Appendix 2]
Testing requirements for stallions vaccinated against equine viral arteritis (EVA) in the exporting country
Stallions for export that are vaccinated against EVA must comply with the following requirements.
<Pre-vaccination test>
1. The government of the exporting country must take blood sample immediately before vaccination and confirm that
they are tested negative by serum neutralization test at a serum dilution of 1:4.
<Post-vaccination test>
2. Three samples must be obtained from vaccinated stallions, of which the first blood sample is acquired at the premises
and the second and the third from the export quarantine facility. The serum neutralization test for EVA must be
conducted on these three serums simultaneously. As a result of the tests, there must be no significant rise (fourfold rise
between any two samples), nor decline in titers. The blood samples must be taken at an interval of at least 14 days, and
the third sample must be taken within 10 days prior to shipment.
3. Stallions vaccinated against EVA must have undergone a mating test or semen virus isolation test.
4. Two mares used for the mating test must comply with these import health requirements and must be isolated
together with the vaccinated stallion in the export quarantine facility for at least 30 days. During the quarantine isolation,
they must be tested negative by below tests.
a. (Pre-mating test) Blood samples must be taken from the two mares before they enter the export quarantine facility
and they must be tested negative by serum neutralization test at a serum dilution of 1:4.
b. (Post-mating test) During the 30-day export quarantine period, the two test mares must be mated twice a day with
a vaccinated stallion for 2 consecutive days. On the 14th and the 28th day after the last mating, blood samples from
the two test mares must be taken and they must be tested negative by serum neutralization test at a serum dilution
of 1:4.
c. During the 30-day export quarantine period, the two test mares must show no clinical signs or symptoms of EVA.
5. As to the virus isolation from semen, vaccinated stallions must be isolated for 30 days prior to shipment at the export
quarantine facility, and the semen virus isolation test must be conducted as below during isolation.
a. Before collecting the semen, disinfectants must not be used for cleaning the tools used for collecting semen or the
exterior of the reproductive organ of stallions.
b. Semen must be obtained using artificial vaginas or condoms. Samples used for virus isolation tests must be
collected from the sperm-rich fraction of the collected semen.
c. The collected semen must be tested negative by the virus isolation test performed pursuant to the process specified
in the Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals of the World Organization for Animal Health
(OIE).