How many procedures does it take to import a horse?

When Mr. Zhang first tried to import a thoroughbred racehorse from Europe, he thought the process would be as simple as buying luxury goods—until he found that he needed to prepare 17 kinds of quarantine documents, deal with transit quarantines in 3 countries, and even calculate the hoof load of the horse during flight. Behind this lies a hundred-billion-yuan market that is growing at an annual rate of 23% but is little known: The Horse Import Agency Industry.

Unlike ordinary pets, international horse transportation needs to break through three barriers:

• Biosecurity Red Line: China has a zero-tolerance policy for 7 types of diseases such as equine infectious anemia and glanders. Each horse needs to provide a 6-month health tracking record from the country of origin.
• Transportation Technology Black Hole: Professional horse transport compartments need to maintain a constant temperature of 20°C, with 15 air exchanges per hour, and the transportation cost can be up to 3 times the price of an air ticket.
• Tariff Maze: According to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the tariff for breeding horses is only 10%, but racehorses may face a combined tax rate of 47%.

Professional institutions such as Zhongshitong have solved these problems through standardized services:

• Complete the verification of the global pedigree database within 48 hours to identify the risk of pedigree fraud.
• The in-house veterinary team provides "door-to-door" quarantine supervision, shortening the quarantine period by 30 days.
• Custom-made air boxes are equipped with heart rate monitors, transmitting data to the shipper's mobile phone in real time.
• Utilize the policies of free trade areas to save up to 60% of taxes and fees for club customers.

Ms. Li's warmblood horse breeding base has recently discovered that agency services are extending from logistics to the industrial chain:

• The annual growth rate of frozen semen/embryo import business has reached 90%. One tube of frozen semen from a top-class stallion can be worth the value of 10 live horses.
• Some institutions have begun to provide "international medical insurance" for horses, covering the settlement of overseas treatment expenses.
• Blockchain technology is being used for horse passport authentication to eliminate the trading of "cloned horses".

When the scale of the domestic horse industry exceeds 150 billion yuan, the following points are recommended to be noted when choosing agency services:

• Whether it has the Customs AEO Advanced Certification.
• Whether the overseas partner ranches have FEI Certification.
• The emergency response mechanism (such as the contingency plan for flight cancellations).

The next time you see that imported magnificent horse worth millions at the horse ranch, perhaps you will remember: Its arrival is far more complicated than crossing the national border. Have you ever been involved in horse import? Welcome to share the industry pain points or interesting stories in your eyes.