Horse passports: Minimum Operating Standards (MOpS) for Passport Issuing Organisations (PIOs)

Invalidating Passports

119. When a PIO is notified of the death of one of the horses on its database, this notification must be recorded on that database.

120. Upon receipt of the passport of a deceased or slaughtered horse the PIO must check the passport for consistency with existing records and other signs of fraud as outlined in the section on Detecting & Preventing Fraud. The passport must then be invalidated by clearly tamper proof stamping it as “invalid” on every page or punching a hole of appropriate diameter through the top right hand corner of every page.

121. The passports of deceased or slaughtered animals may be returned to the horse’s keeper on request following invalidation. A detailed record must be kept of all such passports.

122. If a passport is not returned to the keeper as described in Sections I, II, III and IX (or for pre 2016 passports Sections I, III and IX) it must be kept for 2 years after death and then destroyed. Other sections whose information is held on the organisation’s database may be destroyed immediately without the need for the invalidation.