Default status
Every equine is presumed to be intended for slaughter for human consumption (FP) as long as it has not been excluded. If the status is in doubt, treat it as FP.
Reg. 2021/963, art. 38
Permanent exclusion
Decided by the veterinarian, with the keeper's agreement, before a treatment that requires it. It is signed in the passport (Section II, Part II) and bears the veterinarian's stamp; an entry filled in by the owner is not valid. It is irreversible and must be recorded in HorseID within 7 days.
Reg. 2021/963, art. 38-39 · Royal Decree 7 Nov. 2022, art. 35
Essential substances
Substances on the EU list may be given to an FP equine with a 6-month withdrawal period. The treatment is recorded in the passport (Section II, Part III) and the keeper is told the end date. The temporary exclusion is not notified to HorseID, except for a foal under 12 months without a passport (through the identification request). The list in Regulation 1950/2006 may still be used until 21 May 2027.
Reg. 2019/6, art. 115(5) · Reg. 2025/901, amended by 2026/1810 · Reg. 2021/963, art. 39, 41(1) and 42
Withdrawal period under the cascade
When the SPC gives no withdrawal period for equines, the veterinarian sets it and writes it on the ASD. It is at least: the longest “meat and offal” withdrawal period in the SPC, all species together, multiplied by 1.5 and rounded up to the next day; 28 days if the medicine is not authorised for any food-producing species; 1 day if the SPC withdrawal period is zero and the target species belongs to a taxonomic family other than equines. The active substance must appear in Table 1 of Regulation 37/2010 (MRL); otherwise only the list of essential substances allows an FP equine to be treated, with a 6-month withdrawal period.
Reg. 2019/6, art. 113 and 115 · Reg. 37/2010
Passport absent
The veterinarian issues an ASD whose “remarks” section states that the passport must be presented to him or her within 5 days of the treatment, to complete Section II.
Royal Decree 7 Nov. 2022, art. 34
Unidentified equine
Foal under 12 months that must be excluded or that receives an essential substance: implant a microchip and start the identification request, mentioning the permanent exclusion or the 6-month suspension; it is recorded in HorseID as “pending” with that mention, and completing the procedure is the keeper's responsibility. Foal treated with a medicine authorised in FP equines: ASD and microchip. Equine aged 12 months or older: it is excluded automatically; with a medicine authorised in FP equines, implant a microchip and issue the ASD (the identification request is useful but not compulsory). If a microchip is already present, record its number. A veterinarian who is not an identifier sends the microchip number, the place of keeping and the mention of exclusion by e-mail to the CBC (info@cbc.be).
Royal Decree 7 Nov. 2022, art. 24 and 36
Horse from abroad
It must be registered in HorseID within 30 days of its arrival in Belgium, with its health certificate. Otherwise it is excluded from the food chain automatically when its situation is regularised, and it is not accepted at the slaughterhouse as long as it is not known in HorseID. Registration is the keeper's responsibility.
Unreadable microchip: re-marking
Only a designated identifying veterinarian may implant a new microchip in an equine that already has one. He or she checks the passport, makes sure the horse matches the description, writes the new code in Section I, Part C, with the words “re-marking”, and registers it in HorseID. The FP status is kept only if the identity is established (matching description and registration in HorseID, or biological tests).
Royal Decree 7 Nov. 2022, art. 14, 15 and 41 · Reg. 2021/963, art. 12 to 14
Hormones and beta-agonists
Treatments with allyl trenbolone (altrenogest) or beta-agonists (clenbuterol) are recorded in the passport, Section II, Part IV.
Directive 96/22/EC, art. 4 and 7
Death and euthanasia
The death of the equine is recorded in HorseID within 7 days of the event, if it is known there. If it is not registered, the veterinarian has nothing to do: registration is the keeper's responsibility. The keeper also presents the passport for invalidation.
Royal Decree 7 Nov. 2022, art. 33 · Reg. 2021/963, art. 27(2)