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International racehorses coming to the United States to compete in events like the Breeders’ Cup are among the most closely monitored horses in the world. They travel with extensive health records, identification, and veterinary oversight.
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But if a stallion or mare arrives from a country affected by contagious equine metritis, like Japan, current federal requirements also mean a veterinarian or trained designee must watch the horse whenever it leaves its stall to ensure it doesn’t breed while out on the racetrack.
That is one example supporters of newly introduced federal legislation point to in arguing that U.S. import rules have failed to keep pace with the health and biosecurity systems already surrounding elite international horses.
H.R. 10611, the Temporary International Movement of Equines Act of 2026, or TIME Act, would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a separate, risk-based regulatory framework for so-called high-health, high-performance horses entering the country temporarily for recognized international races or equestrian competitions.
The bipartisan legislation is led by U.S. Reps. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., and Kat Cammack, R-Fla. It was introduced Sept. 24 and referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has not yet taken it up.
Under the bill, USDA would be directed to recognize the relatively low health risk posed by horses certified under standards established by the World Organization for Animal Health, or WOAH, and develop regulations incorporating identification, traceability, and biosecurity measures. Those regulations would include expedited entry and modified quarantine procedures. USDA would have to begin the rulemaking process within 180 days if the legislation becomes law.
The bill would not exempt international competition horses from federal animal-health requirements. Instead, it calls for a separate framework that takes into account the health status and risk posed by this particular population.
Dr. Kandace DeBolt spent five years working for USDA before joining Lexington Equine Medical Group in 2019. Now an associate veterinarian and import and export coordinator with the practice, she also serves as an international quarantine veterinarian for the Breeders’ Cup.
DeBolt said current contagious equine metritis requirements are a prime example of where the existing system can become impractical.
CEM is a highly contagious venereal disease of horses. Under current protocols, DeBolt said, international horses subject to CEM requirements must be kept completely separate from other horses, with a secured perimeter maintained throughout their stay. A licensed, accredited veterinarian or qualified trained designee must directly observe each horse whenever it leaves the stable to ensure it does not breed and potentially transmit the disease.
Limited space at racetracks, combined with the personnel and security required to maintain that separation, can make the process expensive and difficult to manage, she said.
“Current USDA rules and protocols are outdated, inconsistent with current science, and do not account for the high health status of elite international racehorses,” DeBolt said in emailed responses to the Paulick Report.
Competition and racing venues already employ health, identification, traceability, monitoring and biosecurity measures of their own, DeBolt noted, meaning some federal requirements can duplicate safeguards already in place.
The push to change that system has been underway for some time, but the approaching 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles have added urgency.
Dr. Katie Flynn, senior veterinarian for equine health and biosecurity at US Equestrian Federation, said WOAH’s high-health, high-performance framework recognizes these horses as a distinct, closely managed population. These horses are generally microchipped and passported, vaccinated, under continuous veterinary care, and subject to biosecurity protocols as they move between international competitions.
“We feel that it’s overregulation of the high-health, high-performance horse that has created significant barriers for horses to come to this country to compete in the United States,” Flynn said.
Those barriers aren’t limited to CEM. Flynn said the industry also hopes a new framework could address requirements involving equine piroplasmosis, New World screwworm, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis. In some circumstances, horses currently face seven-day quarantine periods during which their exercise is restricted to hand-walking, a significant health and welfare concern for a fit horse expected to compete soon after arrival.
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The goal, Flynn said, would be to determine whether health measures taken before departure and during import quarantine could safely shorten those stays for qualifying horses.
While the mechanism for that would depend on USDA approval, one solution could be for industry organizations or racetracks to establish health-monitoring or biosecurity requirements.
The American Horse Council Foundation is coordinating industry funding for a risk assessment of the high-health, high-performance population. At the same time, the U.S. Animal Health Association’s Committee on Equine is developing a white paper intended as a potential roadmap for implementing an HHP program in the United States.
The bill leaves much of the detail to USDA. It requires a risk-based system and modified quarantine procedures but does not dictate which existing disease requirements should disappear or precisely how qualifying horses should be handled.
DeBolt emphasized that supporters aren’t seeking to eliminate animal-health protections.
“The equine industry supports science-based measures that advance and protect horse health,” she said. An HHP framework, she said, should recognize the low risk posed by these horses while reducing unnecessary regulation and redundant separation, observation and security requirements.
For racing, the potential benefits aren’t limited to an event two years away. In a press release announcing the legislation, Breeders’ Cup president and CEO Drew Fleming said efficient international movement is essential to an event built around bringing together horses from around the world. The Jockey Club also backed the legislation, arguing that a risk-based system could reduce barriers to international participation in U.S. racing while maintaining animal-health safeguards.
For Tonko, whose New York district includes Saratoga Race Course, that international component is part of the appeal.
“Aligning with international safety standards benefits fans, athletes, economies, and the sport as a whole,” Tonko said in the press release, adding that he believes the legislation could help put venues including Saratoga further onto the international stage.
Cammack, whose district includes the Ocala area, similarly said the goal is to allow elite international horses to compete in the United States without unnecessary regulatory barriers while maintaining protections for the domestic horse population.
“The TIME Act brings our rules in line with proven international standards and keeps strong protections in place for the horses already here,” Cammack said. “I’m proud to partner with Congressman Tonko on this bill and to keep working with the American Horse Council to get it across the finish line.”
Whether the bill itself can move quickly enough to matter for the 2028 Games is far from certain.
Amanda Kadilak, government affairs liaison for the American Horse Council, acknowledged that passing standalone legislation in the current Congress may be difficult. But she said introduction of the bill is also intended to signal to USDA that the industry and at least some members of Congress want the agency to move toward recognizing high-health, high-performance horses as a separate population.
USDA already has authority to grant exceptions to some of its existing requirements, Flynn said. With the risk assessment and white paper expected to be completed by the middle of next year, advocates hope the agency could use that authority to temporarily ease some import requirements for Olympic horses even if Congress hasn’t finished work on the TIME Act.
That would address the immediate problem. Flynn said it wouldn’t end the effort to change the system permanently. “We’re not going to stop at a derogation,” she said, using the regulatory term for such an exception. “This is a long-term plan to support our industry.”
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This story was originally published October 8, 2026 at 11:31 AM.