We often travel to France on holiday with our horses. Here are some notes on all the paperwork required before you leave, the successful accomplishment of which will get you to the other side of the Channel.
France offers great riding holiday opportunities, but you will have to do a bit of paperwork and organisation to get there. Make yourself a strong coffee and work through the following list. Don’t worry, it will be worth it!
DEFRA
The paperwork required for horse export is overseen by DEFRA at the Centre for International Trade in Carlisle. (01228 403600. Press 2 & 2). The girls in the office are quite friendly and helpful and will instantly email you the link so you can fill in the form (Application for Veterinary Health Certification for the Export of Equidae to Member States of the European Union. DEFRA No. EXA31 (Equidae) (Rev. 12/15)). The first time time I did the paperwork, I had to ring up and get them to talk me through it; now I just copy out the details from the previous year’s application.
The required sections on the form are as follows, just to give you an idea, for us transporting our own horses from our home address in our own private transport for a riding holiday. Obviously individual requirements may differ.
1.1 Your name, address, email and phone details
1.5 Your name and address
1.8 Country of origin. In our case, Great Britain
1.10 Country of destination. In our case, France
1.12 Place of origin. In our case, ‘establishment’ and home address. If private, you won’t have an approval number.
1.13 Place of destination. In our case, France, then the address to which you are going. Again, there probably won’t be an approval number.
1.14 Place of loading. In our case, our home address.
1.15 Date and time of departure – from where they were loaded
1.16 Means of transport. In going to France, we use the Ship/Road vehicle option.
1.17 Transporter. In our case, us, so name and address again, plus vehicle registration number. Member state: Great Britain
1.18 Animal species. Horse
1.19 Commodity code – apparently 01 01
1.20 Number – of horses travelling
1.25 Animals certified as – tick ‘registered equidae’ assuming the horses have passports, and most will these days
1.25 – Was horse imported into GB in last 10 days – tick ‘yes’ or ‘no’ accordingly
1.29 Estimated journey time – from loading to destination
1.30 Journey Log – if private and an under 8 hour journey, answer is probably ‘no’
1.31 Details of animals: ie. Horse, breed, age including months, sex, passport number and registered name. I try to make it a horse per line.
1.32 Name of Equidae – covered in 1.31 so put ‘as above’
1.33 Details of your veterinary practice and name of person who will carry out examination.
1.34 Declaration. Tick ‘exporter’ if you, sign, date and address/contact details yet again.
Heave a sign of relief and wonder why they have to refer to horses as ‘equidae’! If I have left numbers of sections out it is because they don’t need filling in.
Then email or post completed forms to Carlisle (details on form). If posting, I usually ring up to make sure they have arrived. They recommend 10 working days for processing, though I have been told 5. They will send the completed forms from their end to your nominated vet who will then bring them with him to sign and date when he examines the horses. Don’t forget to book your vet for the date and time you want.
Don’t relax just yet: there is one more form to fill in! (“Export Declaration for Equidae over 147 Centimetres (14.2 hands) in Height Including Foals at Foot with their Dams”. DEFRA No. XH06 (Rev.03/15)). This can be downloaded from the DEFRA website and printed off. (https://www.gov.uk/moving-live-animals-or-animal-products-as-part-of-eu-trade) or get the Carlisle lot to email it to you.
This is then just filled in by you and handed over to the ferry company when you check in for crossing the Channel. It is fairly straightforward and the sections are self explanatory. On the back, you put the horse details and the purpose of export, for which I usually put ‘tourism’.
Breakdown Cover
We use The Organisation of Horsebox & Trailer Owners (01488 657651 / http://www.horsebox-rescue.co.uk). Breakdown cover may well be included as part of your normal insurance, but if not, this company operates independently.
Yearly cover for our HGV is £215. European breakdown cover is then another £189 per month. Although we often go into a 2nd month, they usually only charge us a flat rate of £189 as we go straight to a specific destination and then park up until our return, another direct journey. Obviously individual circumstances can vary. They usually require a photocopy of the annual MOT, and if 20 years plus, a letter from your mechanic saying the vehicle is fit for the anticipated journey.
New truck tyres are 500 euros plus in France. After a blow out on an early visit when we only had one spare, so had to buy another, we now travel with 3 spares. We have also learned how to change them ourselves as there is invariably a long wait if you call breakdown services out.
Green Card
I don’t know why car insurance automatically covers you 3rd party in Europe, but not horsebox insurance. You will need to purchase a Green Card so contact your insurer directly. We are insured with the NFU (www.nfumutual.co.uk) and, on top of our normal annual insurance, the Green Card seems to cost approx £100 a month extra. NFU also do European Union breakdown cover, but only on vehicles up to 20 years old.
Vet Examination
This is where all your form filling for DEFRA ends up. They send the paperwork to your nominated veterinary practice. The vet will give the horses a quick health check then sign all the necessary forms. This costs approx £25 per horse and is valid for travel for 48 hours. We usually get it done late in the day then get an early start on the next. If the weather looks as if it is going to be hot, it is advisable to travel at night so the horses will be more comfortable. There is also less chance of motorway delays too. Your ferry company will take a photocopy of the papers for each horse at the port, plus the completed Export Certificate, and that is it – in our case, no one has ever actually looked at the horses at the port.
Requirements for France
Carry the registration document and plating certificate for the vehicle and don’t forget to your Green Card and breakdown cover. Also spare light bulbs, first aid kit, warning triangle and reflective waistcoat for number of people in truck. 2 breathalyzers (in date!) are now required though it is not a fining offence if you don’t have them. Light beams have to be adjusted for driving on the left – we just use tape. There are also new emission rules and stickers required if driving in some of the major cities. This does not apply to the Paris ring road though (best tackled in the middle of the night!).
Travelling to Dover
Rest Stop
There is a convenient place to get horses off for a break about 20 minutes before Dover near Junction 11 of the M20. Exit and turn left and after about a mile there is a left hand turn for the Drum Inn (Stone Street, Stanford, Ashford TN25 6DN. www.thedruminn.com). There is then a little slip road on your right, which we usually reverse up, and a big grassy area for a horse leg stretch.
Cheap Fuel
Heading south on the M20 towards Dover, there is a handy Tesco petrol station at Junction 12. Exit and turn right at the roundabout. Take the first right and Tesco’s is just on the right. Easily accessible with an HGV horsebox. About 3p per litre cheaper than at Dover which makes a big difference if putting in 200 litres! With the present bad exchange rate and taking credit card charges into consideration, it is cheaper than the average garage in France too at the moment, though if you can find the supermarkets there, you may get diesel as low as €1.08 a litre.
Ferries
I used to love the French MyFerryLink but sadly they are now defunct and prices have risen as a result. Now we have found P&O (www.poferriesfreight.com) usually seem to offer the best rates, although DFDS (www.dfds.com) operate from the same port and office. It is possible to just turn up and pay, hand over the paperwork, and they will put you on the next available boat; they go roughly every hour so the wait is never very long. For a 10m truck, a recent return crossing cost £398; the return is open, so again it is just a matter of turning up and getting on the next available ferry.
The port of Dover has free wifi, and a small service area with a Burger King, W H Smith and Travelex. This is your last chance to put tape or adapters on your headlights to make them legal for France.
Once on the ferry, join the singlet-clad, rubber-shod stampede of truck drivers to the freight drivers restaurant (keep your ticket on you to get in). It is not very elegant on P&O, but there is unlimited free hot chocolate, tea, coffee and soft drinks. The truckers breakfast is only £3.99 and will set you up for the day.
Bon voyage!