HUNDREDS of horse owners across the two counties will be relieved to know that the deadline for horse passports has been extended for six months.

Originally, the deadline was for the end of this year, but because so many issues regarding the scheme have been raised by equine organisations, Defra finally acknowledged that the few weeks between the scheme becoming law and the proposed deadline of December 31 left insufficient time for owners to apply.

The statutory instrument has now been laid before both Houses - the final parliamentary stage before it becomes law - and states that horse owners must obtain a passport by June 30, 2004.

The horse will need its passport when it is moved in or out of Great Britain or to other premises for competition or breeding purposes, receives veterinary treatment, goes to a new keeper or is sold and when it is moved to a slaughterhouse.

Kay Driver, chief executive of the British Horse Society, welcomed the news and said: "We are pleased that the Government has seen fit to listen to our concerns over the tight deadlines imposed earlier this year as this will alleviate the pressure on horse owners and passport issuing organisations.

"Common sense has prevailed - albeit at a rather late date."

Defra says new passport regulations will help protect the human food chain by ensuring that all horses, ponies and donkeys are issued with identification documents which must contain details of certain veterinary drugs if the animal could end up being used for human consumption.

It will enable the British horse industry to continue using treatments that are important for horses not intended for the food chain. Officials say failure to provide such an assurance could result in the European Commission removing the approval of these veterinary medicines such as bute which could result in potential horse welfare issues if they were no longer available.

The equine industry believes the scheme has other benefits, too. These include discouraging the indiscriminate breeding of horses and ponies that may be of low quality or value. Because the new legislation requires that every horse must have a passport when it is sold, it may lead to a reduction in the sale of stolen horses.

A longer-term benefit is the setting up of a National Equine Database to record details of every horse issued with a passport in the UK. This will benefit the industry in providing information for enhanced breeding programmes and research.

Alun Michael, Rural Affairs Minister and Minister for the Horse, said he had extended the deadline so that he could take into account the views of horse organisations and wanted to ensure the success of the new arrangements.

The regulations include information on when a horse needs to be accompanied by a passport, what to do with the passport when a horse is sold or dies and what happens if a passport is lost or damaged.

"I announced on February 2002 our intention to require all horses, donkeys s and ponies in England to have a passport," said Mr Michael. "This will help us to comply with European legislation intended to protect public health by ensuring horses entering the food chain have not been treated with inappropriate medicines. Rather than introducing a new system to fulfil our legal obligation in a top-down way, we are working with the horse industry and particularly the existing passport issuing organisations. The system will allow the continued use of various treatments for horses which are important to the horse industry in this country and for horse welfare.

"In response to our consultation on the regulations earlier this year, concern was expressed about the tight deadline between laying the necessary regulations before Parliament and the implementation date.

"In response to this concern, I have decided to postpone the requirement to have a passport until June. This will give horse owners extra time to apply and Passport Issuing Organisations more time to cope with demand."

During the summer of 2000, Defra consulted widely on options on how the legislation could be implemented. The main options were either passports for all horses or passports only for those slaughtered for human consumption. However, any option other than passports for all horses would have resulted in under implementation of the EU legislation. The majority of organisations representing the horse industry favoured passports for all horses.

All passports will include a section to record the date certain medicines were administered to the horse. This section must be completed if the owner declares in the passport that the horse is ultimately intended for human consumption and the passport will be checked by slaughterhouses. This will be enforced by the Food Standards Agency.

But some horse owners are confused with the scheme. Foals under six months will have to have a passport if they leave their premises of birth for more than two weeks - disrupting the regime of broodmares with foals - and uncertainty also surrounds identification.

Welfare groups fear that British abattoirs - which dispose of 10,000 - 12,000 horses a year, mainly for the French and Belgian table - will have to close.