Horse racing: Australia and Hong Kong end quarantine stand-off

[November 25, 2019]    (Reuters) - Australia has agreed to relax restrictions imposed on the travel of horses from Hong Kong, ending a two-year stand-off between the two countries, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.

The movement of horses between the jurisdictions was frozen in 2017 after the Hong Kong Jockey Club's (HKJC) addition of a training facility in mainland China, which sparked Australian concerns over biosecurity.

Australian horses have been allowed to travel to Hong Kong under normal quarantine rules after the two sides reached an interim agreement in March, but horses from Hong Kong could only travel to Australia after spending 180 days in a third country.

The Australian Department of Agriculture (ADA), in October, assessed the HKJC's Conghua training facility, which is in an equine disease-free zone (EDFZ) in mainland China's Guangdong province, and has now said it meets import standards.

"Following ... interim protocols achieved in March and the successful site visit by officials from the ADA in October, we welcome confirmation that movements of horses between Australia and Hong Kong can now be fully resumed," HKJC Executive Director of Racing Andrew Harding said.

"This is another strong endorsement of the robustness of biosecurity within the EDFZ and the high-health status of our racehorses at Conghua."

The ruling means horses can now be transported between Australia and Hong Kong in accordance with the same conditions that were in place before movement was restricted in October 2017.

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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