Non-Tariff Barriers in the International Trade of Sport Horses

Abstract

This review article presents a synthesis of the legal aspects involved in importing sport horses into Colombia. The author describes and analyzes the general characteristics of non-tariff barriers affecting the importation of equines for reproduction and work, including quarantine periods, transport conditions and other animal health requirements. The analysis of non-tariff measures focuses on an exhaustive review of the twenty-one international protocols signed by Colombia to date. This includes the analysis of import protocols signed with Germany, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, the United States, France, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Honduras, Mexico, Aruba, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Uruguay (Government of Colombia, 2023). In this analysis, the author performs a classification of the common sanitary requirements in the majority of the international protocols, identifying the moment of implementation during the animal importation process. Similarly, the article makes a comparison of sanitary risks in the international protocols. This systematic review of the regulations in force in Colombia for the importation of horses was based fundamentally on the analysis of primary legal sources from the regulatory authority (i.e., documents from the Colombian Agricultural Institute-ICA). Some reflections have been the result of conversations with experts in the field of importing sport horses and members of the equestrian community in Colombia. This article seeks to become a useful input for strengthening business initiatives linked to the equestrian sector and facilitating the trade of imported equines, for the improvement of genetic lines located in the national territory.