Irish horse-breeding levy sires dispute

Date: 08/05/02

By David Cronin

EU FARM officials are investigating an Irish levy scheme designed to support the country's thoroughbred horse-breeding industry to determine whether it breaches competition law.

Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler announced the probe after receiving a complaint about the Irish practice from Italian centre-right MEP Francesco Fiori, who described it as 'protectionist'.

The Forza Italia deputy believes the scheme discriminates against horse breeders outside Ireland.

He said: 'EU breeders of thorough-bred horses are of the opinion that the largest number of high-quality stallions are to be found in Ireland, for which reason a seasonal transfer trade has developed, involving mares belonging mainly to Italian, French and German breeders which are sent to Ireland for breeding purposes.'

Under regulations introduced in 2000, the levy is calculated based on the estimated value of the stallion that sires the foal. It can range from about €30 to slightly more than €500.

'The Irish government has introduced a levy which is directly proportionate to the cost of making available the stallion by which the mare becomes pregnant,' Fiori said, adding that for 'some unfathomable reason', UK breeders are exempt.

He wants to know if the way the levy applies to all member states, bar the UK, violates competition rules laid down in the EU treaties as the charge 'increases production costs for some breeders though not for others'. The transfer trade, he added, has been triggered by the ban on artificial insemination by the international equine authorities.

The new foal regulations have replaced a previous scheme, under which a levy of 1 was slapped on sales of Irish racehorses on markets in Britain and Ireland. Money collected from it goes to Horse Racing Ireland, the authority responsible for the bloodstock industry there.

In recent years the number of thoroughbred horses registered in Ireland has risen by 20, with annual sales for the industry worth almost €125 million.

EU farm officials are investigating an Irish levy scheme designed to support the country's thoroughbred horse-breeding industry to determine whether it breaches competition law.