Passport registration

Each horse needs a passport: this is obligated by law. Each horse must also be chipped according to the European law.
On July 1, 2009, the new European regulation for Identification & Registration has taken effect. For most horse keepers this has no great impact. The most important difference is that all passports must include the chapter ‘Medical treatment’, which states if the horse is destined for human consumption after slaughtering. Passports which have been issued after 2003 already have this chapter; most of the KWPN-passports issued after the middle of 2000 have it as well. When you are in doubt, please check your passport.
Horse keepers who still have a passport without the medical appendix must apply for a new passport in order to comply with the regulations. Please fill in this form and send it back to our office.

Full passports

Some equine passports become full over time and require additional pages for documenting requirements such as vaccinations. You may request additional pages if the following passport sections are full: section III (ownership), section IV (identification), section V (vaccinations against Equine Influenza), section VI (vaccinations against diseases other than Equine Influenza), section VII (laboratory tests), or part III of section IX (veterinary treatments).
The KWPN submits requests for additional pages to the agency which issued the original passport. Requests for passports issued in the Netherlands are processed easily. If a request submitted to an agency in another European Union Member State or third country cannot be processed or is not possible, the request may be submitted to a Dutch passport issuing agency.
Please note that processing may not be possible if the address of the passport issuing agency in another membership cannot be located, or the agency does not have a policy that can be carried out, or the agency has no policy with respect to full passports.

Requesting Additional Passport Pages

To request additional passport pages, please complete and mail the form below and the full passport to the KWPN. Upon receipt of the completed form and full passport, the KWPN will confirm that at least one of the sections listed above is full. If available pages in the passport are found, your request will not be processed. Passports that meet the stated requirements will be bound with additional pages.
Requests made to the KWPN for additional pages for passports issued by an agency in another European Union Member State membership or third country must include a declaration stating that a request was submitted to that agency but additional passport pages were not obtained. The declaration must include the reason why the request was not carried out. The KWPN cannot process requests without this declaration.
The additional pages are for passport pages 6 – 49 (which includes all sections except I and II). They are bound in a cover together with the original full passport. This format, in principal, applies to additional pages for passports issued by agencies in another membership or third country. However, if additional pages cannot be bound to the original passport because of its size or method of binding, a second passport will be issued. Both the second and the original full passport must accompany the horse they identify.
To request additional passport pages, please complete and print out the form below and attach the full passport. You may submit requests for additional pages for several passports at the same time. We recommended sending these documents by registered mail.

Duplicate forms

The registration paper and the horse-passport are documents which a horse needs and they are obligatory by law. If either document is lost, you may request a duplicate replacement.
Please complete and return the form (email), along with the requested documentation. Upon receipt of these items, we will determine if we can process your request. If your request cannot be processed, we will notify you in writing with the reasons for our decision.
You should receive your replacement document within 8 weeks, provided that we have received a fully completed request form and all documentation. All charges for duplicate documents are the responsibility of the party making the request.
In addition to the completed request form and documentation, please submit clear colour photos of the horse in question which show the following:

• The entire horse
• The front of the head
• The legs

Note that requests submitted without photos cannot be processed. Photos will not be returned; they will be kept as evidence.

To expedite processing, please place several strands of mane from the equine in question in the enclosed hair bag (for possible DNA analysis) and return it along with the other required items. Please do not cut the mane but pull, we need to have the hairroots of the manes.

The KWPN reserves the right to require DNA testing prior to issuing a replacement registration certificate / equine passport.

Registration in central database RVO.nl

All horses residing in the Netherlands must be registered in the central database of RVO.nl. Passport-issuing authorities submit the data to the central database. Owners of horses with a foreign passport must register this passport within 30 days of issuance or within 30 days after the horse has arrived in the Netherlands from another member state or from a non-EU country, with a Dutch passport-issuing authority. The passport-issuing authority will use the form below, a copy of the holder's ID, and copies of the passport to verify if the passport meets the requirements and will provide the identification data to the central database.

Database registration is also mandatory for horses that only have an import notification. Starting in early 2024, KWPN will also charge fees for this service. When moving horses within the EU, a TRACES certificate is always required, and outside the EU, an export certificate is needed. For import notifications, providing the TRACES number, which is the health certificate number, is mandatory.

Registration of foreign passports or an import notification with KWPN can be done via the form below, in combination with copies of the passport showing the UELN, chip number, horse's name, gender, color, place of birth, country of birth, date of issue of the document, and the medical annex. Providing a copy of the TRACES or health certificate is also mandatory.

Horses temporarily in the Netherlands, in the following cases, do not need to be registered in the central database of RVO.nl:

• Horses staying in another member state for up to 90 days for competitions, horse races, shows, training, and hauling activities.
• Stallions staying in another member state for the breeding season.
• Mares staying in another member state for breeding for up to 90 days.
• Horses in a veterinary institution for medical reasons.
• Horses slaughtered in another member state within 10 days after importation.