Call for data – Blood collection from horses
EFSA-Q-number: EFSA-Q-2024-00188
Published: 15/04/2025
Deadline for Call for Expression of Interest:15/07/2025
Deadline for submission of data: 23/07/2025
Background
In alignment with the European Commission's Farm to Fork Strategy, which aims to revise EU animal welfare legislation based on the latest scientific evidence, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has been tasked with delivering a Scientific Opinion on the welfare of horses by December 2026. The mandate of EFSA can be consulted in Open EFSA.
Within this mandate, a specific Term of Reference (ToR) requests EFSA to provide information on risks to horse welfare associated with the collection of blood for commercial purposes.
As part of this initiative, EFSA organized a stakeholder meeting on June 19, 2024, in Brussels, to foster an open dialogue with stakeholders from the early stages of the risk assessment process. The event provided an opportunity for stakeholders to engage in technical discussions on the challenges and opportunities surrounding this mandate, focusing on the available data and data sources that will inform EFSA's scientific advice.
Following this engagement, EFSA launches a public call for data on blood collection from horses for commercial purposes from interested parties.
To ensure a comprehensive assessment, EFSA launches a public call for data (published, unpublished or newly generated data) from interested parties. EFSA will then consider the relevance of the provided information for the risk assessment. The submission of the requested information is without prejudice to the final opinion of the Animal Health and Welfare Panel.
Objectives
The purpose of this call for data is to offer interested parties (e.g., food business operators, national food authorities, research institutions, academia) and/or other stakeholders, the opportunity to submit documented information (published and/or unpublished) relevant to assess risks to horse welfare in relation to blood collection for commercial purposes.
Specific objectives
- Specific Objective 1: restraining methods and blood collection practices
EFSA is looking for data on restraining methods during blood collection and blood collection practices. The requested information includes physical or chemical restraints, material used for blood collection (e.g., size of needles), volume and frequency of blood collection, time between two consecutive collections on the same animal, and data on care provided to donor horses.
- Specific Objective 2: induced and repeated abortions
EFSA is looking for data on induced and repeated abortions in the context of commercial blood collection from pregnant mares. The requested information includes frequency of induced abortions, methods and timing of termination, and care provided to mares.
Data sought and data submission format
EFSA kindly invites interested parties to submit information in two consecutive steps:
- Step 1: Expression of interest and reply to questions related to the specific objectives through EU Survey.
- Step 2. Official submission of data through Portalino.
Both steps are required for data submission. Details are provided below.
Step 1: Expression of interest and reply to questionnaire through EU survey
EFSA invites interested parties to express their interest and provide information by completing a questionnaire via the EU Survey tool (find link below).
https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/Callfordatabloodcollection
Upon opening the EU Survey, instructions are provided on how to complete the questionnaire and respondents are guided through a series of questions related to the specific objectives of this call.
Please note that the survey can be submitted only once. We recommend reviewing your answers carefully before finalising your submission. The tool permits saving a draft of your replies before submitting. The final replies to the questions are sent by clicking on the SUBMIT button.
After successful submission, respondents receive an email within seven days that includes a PDF file of submitted responses. Kindly confirm receipt of this email and ensure that you download and save the PDF file which is required for the official data submission via Portalino (step 2).
Should you require assistance when filling in the EU Survey or have specific questions on how to submit it, please contact RAL@efsa.europa.eu adding subject “Call for data – blood collection from horses”.
Interested parties and stakeholders should express their interest and submit information in response to the questions via EU Survey by 15/07/2025 accessible through the following link:
https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/Callfordatabloodcollection
To help the preparation of responses, a pdf of the questions is provided.
Step 2: Data submission through Portalino
Before submitting data through Portalino please ensure that:
- You have completed step 1, i.e. completed the questionnaire in EU Survey and submitted your replies.
- You have saved the PDF file with your responses sent to you by email
Important: EFSA only considers those data submissions that are uploaded to Portalino. The submission of other supporting documents is optional.
Practical details about accessing and submitting through Portalino are provided below.
Please note that registration to the Portalino tool may require a few days. Please take that into consideration regarding the data submission deadline.
Should you require assistance on access to Portalino or data submission, don’t hesitate to contact RAL@efsa.europa.eu adding subject “Call for data – Blood collection from horses”.
Interested parties and stakeholders should submit data through Portalino by 23/07/2025 complying with the information described in this call.
Confidentiality
In order to comply with its requirements for proactive transparency, EFSA must, inter alia, make public the information on which its scientific outputs are based, as outlined in Article 38(1)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the “General Food Law” (GFL) and Article 6(1)(i) of EFSA’s Practical Arrangements concerning transparency and confidentiality (“EFSA’s Practical Arrangements”). Information/data received in the context of the present call are subject to the afore-mentioned proactive transparency requirements insofar as they will constitute information on which scientific outputs, including scientific opinions, are based.
However, in accordance with Articles 39-39e of the GFL confidential status may be awarded to information the disclosure of which might potentially harm the information owner to a significant degree. Provided that the conditions set out in Articles 39-39e and further detailed in EFSA’s Practical Arrangements are satisfied, EFSA must not make public any information/data for which confidential treatment has been requested and duly justified pending its confidentiality assessment where urgent action is essential to protect human health, animal health or the environment.
Submission of information/data through Portalino
Interested business operators and/or parties should submit the information/data in electronic format exclusively via the tool Submission Builder “Portalino” (available here).
Submission of data in any other form (mail, third party e-submission platforms, etc) will not be accepted.
Information on how to use Portalino and submit confidentiality requests is available here. Information regarding confidentiality can be found in the User Guide on Confidentiality.
Interested business operators and/or interested parties should submit the following information to EFSA via Portalino, clearly stating:
- in the Subject of the submission: “Call for data Blood collection from horses EFSA-Q-2024-00188”
- The contact details (name of contact person, name of company/organisation, e-mail address and telephone number) of the person responsible for the data submission and, if applicable, the list of interested business operators and/or interested parties represented and their contact details.
Please note that registration to the Portalino tool may require a few days. Please take that into consideration regarding the data submission deadline.
When sharing information/data with EFSA, certain parts of the information/data may be requested to be treated as confidential provided that:
i. the information falls within the scope of the closed list of information items listed in the Annex to EFSA’s Practical Arrangements and
ii. the confidentiality request is accompanied by a verifiable justification that demonstrates how the public disclosure of the information/data for which confidential status is requested would harm your interests to a significant degree.
iii. When claiming confidentiality for some of the information/data, both a non-confidential (public dissemination) and a confidential version of the information/data must be submitted as indicated here. A separate confidentiality request must be submitted for each document and for each legal ground under which information is claimed confidential. A precise description of the information/data claimed confidential must be provided to enable a clear identification and the information/data claimed confidential must be earmarked in the confidential version and redacted in the non-confidential version.
For submissions which do not contain any confidential information, only a non-confidential (public dissemination) version has to be uploaded to Portalino.
Please note that EFSA may, where legally possible, use or re-use relevant information or data (e.g., technical, toxicological data) for the assessment of the same or another substance/topic under the same or a different legal or regulatory framework from the one mentioned above.
Correspodence
Please address any enquiries to RAL@efsa.europa.eu.