TRACES: 2019

Throughout 2018 we have regularly posted that we have been told that the authorities would be ‘looking at’ the TRACES Scheme with a view to tightening up what they perceive as inconsistencies in the way that it is implemented here in Spain, and elsewhere.

Late 2017 IFAPA told us that they felt that the move would be to only allow TRACES to be done from a registered Protectora, with all pick ups having to be made from the Protectora, and all deliveries to be made to a Protectora or equivalent.

The key rationale is that the TRACES Scheme exists to track/trace the movement of the animals and the treatment records of said animals at each stage of the process. By insisting that the TRACES be done by the Protectora that the animal is registered to, and collected from that Protectora, they would unsure that the details on the TRACES Certificate reflected the details of the actual owner of the animal, which had treated and was responsible for the welfare of the animal.

Over the last couple weeks this issue has it seemed gained more traction ….

In Germany a number of vets have said that they will not validate a home address. Their rational is that they can’t be expected to validate the address of a property they have not inspected, nor have the time (and from my experience inclination) to inspect. They have stated that they believe the animals should be delivered to one validated address of the importing organisation.

In Spain a couple of Protectora’s have recently had meetings with OCA where they discussed only allowing TRACES to be done by the registered Protectora for ‘their’ animals (as a Protectora the animals does not have to a chip registered to the Protectora, but they do have to have a record of ownership). Interestingly (and I say that with a heavy dose of irony) they also suggested that a transport could only pick up from one Protectora so in effect TRACES would become one Protectora, using one Transport, to deliver to one Protectora.

To put this into context it is exactly what TRACES was intended for when introduced e.g. One vehicle collecting from one farm to take their animals to one abattoir. So in effect ‘all’ OCA are doing is saying that the TRACES Scheme as it was designed should be used consistently across all markets …. hard to disagree with the logic.

Of course it doesn’t address the issue that TRACES being used for re-homed cats and dogs is not what it was intended for, so is actually still not ‘fit for purpose’, but the PETS Scheme while it provides exactly the same animal welfare measure, provides no ownership record and control …. but in my opinion this could be addressed as simply as the Spanish Vet emailing the UK Vet to confirm the details of the animal so it was evidence of ownership.

Must stress that at present NOTHING has been announced and the above may come to nothing, on the other hand it could quite significantly effect the use of TRACES and Pet Transport for re-homed cats and dogs in 2019.

Time will tell. From our perspective all we can do is wait and see and then ensure we adapt (if possible) to meet the new requirements.