Veterinary Department Updates

We would like to remind you that the consultation period regarding the proposed changes to the Equine Prohibited Substances List (EPSL) will be ending soon.

The changes proposed by the FEI List Group, which is the sub-committee of the Veterinary Committee, can be found here and any accepted changes will come into effect as of 1 January 2024.

Please submit all comments regarding the proposed changes, together with a clear scientific reasoning, to Caterina Termine by Friday 28 July 2023. All comments received within this deadline will be considered by the FEI List Group before finalising their conclusions.

The Rules Revision Process 2023 is well underway with the first draft of the proposed changes now available to National Federations and Stakeholders for review and feedback by 16 August 2023 prior to being submitted to the General Assembly for approval in November as per the timeline below: 
1 March 2023
National Federations and Stakeholders with whom the FEI has signed an MOU have the opportunity to propose Rules changes as per the FEI Periodical Rules Revision Policy.
28 June 2023
The FEI provides National Federations and Stakeholders with the first Draft of proposed Rules change.
IMPORTANT
The 1st Draft of proposed Rules changes Memos as well as the Templates to provide feedback by 16 August 2023 can be found HERE. ONLY proposals submitted online on the Rules Revision Platform using the respective Templates will be accepted.
16 August 2023
National Federations and Stakeholders are given seven weeks to review the first Draft and the proposed amendments in this first Draft and make comments and/or propose any changes in relation to the first Draft.
24 October 2023
Final Draft of the proposed Rules changes is provided to National Federations and Stakeholders.
20 November 2023
Rules Session at FEI General Assembly in Mexico City (MEX).
21 November 2023
Voting of Rules at the FEI General Assembly.

For more information on the FEI Rules Revision processes and timelines, click here.

If you have any questions please contact the FEI Director Governance & Institutional Affairs at Francisco.lima@fei.org

The names of candidates vetted by the FEI Nominations Committee for the Elections & Appointments 2023 are available on Inside.FEI.org. For the positions to be elected by the FEI General Assembly 2023, the candidacy files can also be consulted.

The open positions are:

Elections 
•    Chair of Regional Group III – Board Member
•    Chair of Regional Group VII – Board Member
•    Chair of Driving Technical Committee – Board Member
•    Chair of FEI Tribunal
•    Members of FEI Tribunal
•    Member of Audit & Compliance Committee
•    Members of Nominations Committee, all Regional Groups

Appointments 
•    Member of Jumping Committee          
•    Member of Dressage Committee
•    Member of Para Equestrian Committee     
•    Member of Eventing Committee      
•    Member of Driving Committee      
•    Member of Vaulting Committee            
•    Members of Veterinary Committee
•    Member of Medical Committee
Should you have any questions regarding the FEI Elections & Appointments 2023, please contact the Director of Governance & Institutional Affairs, Francisco Lima.

The FEI Sports and Veterinary Department would like to draw your attention to the application deadline to host FEI Transfer Up or CES (FEI Competency-based Evaluation System) Maintenance Courses in 2024.

We kindly ask you to download the relevant application & budget forms, which can be accessed via the links provided below, and to send them to the FEI via the corresponding email address also provided below, no later than the 31 July 2023.

Should you have any questions regarding the administration of our courses, please contact the relevant FEI Sport or Veterinary Department who will be able to assist you.

The FEI Board held a teleconference on 2 May. The Paris 2024 resolution taken on this occasion is listed below.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES
The Board approved the following appointments of International Technical Officials for the 2024 Olympic Games:

Eventing Technical Delegate: Marcin Konarski (POL)

Jumping Technical Delegate: Guilherme Nogueira Jorge (BRA)

Foreign Veterinary Delegate: Dr Emily Sandler (USA)

President of the Veterinary Commission: Dr Thierry Grisard (FRA)

Member of the Veterinary Commission: Dr Juliana Freitas (BRA)

Member of the Veterinary Commission: Dr Julius Peters (NED)

Overall Chief Steward: Cesar Hirsch (VEN)

The FEI Board held a teleconference on 2 May. The Veterinary resolution taken on this occasion is listed below.

Veterinary
FEI Central Laboratory 2023-2026
Further to the recommendations of the Veterinary Chair, the Veterinary Director and the Legal Director, the Board approved LGC, Newmarket Road, Fordham, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom as the FEI Central Laboratory from 2023 to 2026.

The FEI Board held an extraordinary teleconference on 4 April. One of the main resolutions taken on this occasion is listed below:

Veterinary
Appointment Dr Albéric Théry to the FEI Equine Prohibited Substances List Expert Group
The Board approved the appointment of Dr Albéric Théry (UAE) to the FEI List Group as a replacement of Treating Veterinarian Dr Richard Corde (FRA) retiring in 2023.

The FEI was recently informed of supply delays for certain Boehringer Ingelheim products, which includes the Equine Influenza vaccine ProteqFlu® as well as the Equine Influenza and Tetanus vaccine ProteqFlu® TE.

The FEI is currently monitoring the potential impact of a shortage of ProteqFlu® and ProteqFlu® TE equine vaccines in the European Union and the United Kingdom, and will provide regular updates on the evolving situation. 

In the meantime, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions page on inside.FEI.org for more information.

As you are all aware and in accordance with the FEI Veterinary Regulations, as of 1 January 2022 all Horses competing at all FEI Events worldwide must fulfil the Horse Health Requirements via the FEI HorseApp.

The Horse Health Requirements were devised and implemented in response to the severe EHV-1 outbreak in mainland Europe last year, and are vital for the health and welfare of horses at FEI Events by providing an important biosecurity system to reduce the risk of an outbreak of an infectious disease.

Sanctions for non-compliance with these requirements are already in force for Horses competing at FEI Events in Mainland Europe and these will be introduced and enforced worldwide as of 1 September 2022. The month of August served as a transitional month for all FEI Events outside of Mainland Europe, providing an opportunity for all Stakeholders to become acquainted with the processes and sanctions that will now apply. A summary of the revised sanctions as laid out in Annex VI of the FEI Veterinary Regulations can be found here.

The FEI has today published the third and final part of the Report into the 2021 outbreak of the neurological form of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) in mainland Europe.

This concluding part of the Report focuses on further risk mitigation against EHV-1, including conclusions from the EHV-1 vaccination review presented at the FEI Sports Forum on 26 April 2022.

The suggested way forward is the central theme for this part of the Report, including specifically whether or not mandatory vaccination should be proposed by the FEI, and the importance of enhanced biosecurity measures.

Part 3 also incorporates significant feedback from the FEI Veterinary Epidemiology Working Group and the FEI Veterinary Committee, and information on two relevant reports from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). As with the previous two parts of the Report, Part 3 is co-authored by FEI Veterinary Director Dr Göran Åkerström and Grania Willis, former FEI Communications Director and now Executive Consultant to the FEI.

Based on advice from the FEI Veterinary Epidemiology Working Group, alongside additional feedback from virologists and immunologists and a report commissioned by the FEI from world-renowned equine infectious diseases specialist Professor Lutz Goehring, the FEI Veterinary Committee has concluded that the scientific evidence does not currently support mandating vaccination globally.

However, the Committee is fully supportive of enhanced biosecurity measures as the best method of preventing and mitigating outbreaks of EHV-1 and also strongly supports personal choice, stressing that National Federations and stakeholders must have the right to vaccinate their horses against the disease.

A press release on today’s publication is available here.

The full Report, including the final part, is available here.