All movements of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats (with a few exceptions e.g. for veterinary treatment) must be reported to the appropriate body responsible for maintaining the national database within 3 days i.e.
Cattle British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS)
Sheep and Goats Scottish Animal Movement Unit (SAMU)
Pigs Local Authority of the holding of Departure
In the event of a disease outbreak, the precise location of all livestock is essential for effective measures to control and eradicate highly contagious diseases.
Before moving livestock to a holding you need a County Parish Holding number (CPH) (issued by the State Veterinary Service) for the land where the livestock will be kept. The CPH is a nine digit number, the first 2 digits relate to the county, the next 3 relate to the parish and the last 4 digits are a unique number to the keeper e.g. 12/345/6789 The CPH is a crucial factor in identifying the actual holding animals are being moved from and to.
When a keeper of livestock is registered a unique flock/herd mark will automatically be created. Herdmarks for pigs are one or two letters followed by four digits e.g. AB1234 or A1234. Flock/herd marks for cattle, sheep and goats are six digits e.g. 123456. The herdmark provides a quick and effective means of identifying premises from which livestock have moved.
Cattle
Tagging:
Cattle born on or after 1 January 1998 must have a Defra approved eartag in each ear (double tagging). The tag in each ear must have the same unique number. Such animals will be identified throughout their lifetime by this unique number. Animals born or imported into Great Britain before 1 January 1998 may continue to be identified by a single tag
Farm records:
Records of cattle births, movements and deaths must be kept by keepers for 10 full calendar years
Passports:
Cattle born since 1 July 1996 must have passports, recording where they have been throughout their lives. Older cattle have been issued with certificates of CTS Registration;
The Cattle Tracing System (CTS) is a computer based system to register cattle in Great Britain maintained by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS). The CTS records the identification and death of cattle, the movements from birth to death of cattle issued with passports from 28 September 1998, and the movements of older cattle since 29 January 2001. Cattle keepers can now register new calves, report movements and check information held on their cattle on the CTS through the CTS website.
For further information on cattle identification and traceability please refer to our external links section.
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Sheep and Goats
Tagging:
All sheep and goats born after 9 July 2005 must have a Baseline UK eartag applied within 9 months in extensive systems (6 months in other cases) and in any case prior to being moved. Older sheep must be tagged/tattooed as appropriate prior to being moved. For moves within the UK there are 4 main types of eartag
• Baseline UK
• Baseline S
• S or movement
• Red R or replacement
Farm Records:
Records of sheep and goat movements must be kept by keepers for 6 full calendar years;
Annual Inventory:
A record must be made of the number of sheep and goats on a holding on the 1 January of each year and detail notified to SEERAD.
Movement Document:
All movements for Sheep and Goats (except for emergency veterinary treatment) must be accompanied by a movement document. A copy of the movement document must be retained at the holdings of departure and destination for 3 years. The information relating to the movement must also be notified to SAMU within 3 days of the movement.
For further information please refer to our external links section, link titled Sheep and Goats.
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Pigs
Tagging:
All pigs must be identified before they are moved and in most cases a temporary mark (e.g. paint mark, slap mark or management eartag) is acceptable but for movements to an exhibition or show or for breeding purposes they must be marked with an eartag or tattoo with
• “UK” + Herdmark + individual number
Farm Records:
Records of pig movements must be kept by keepers for 3 full calendar years;
Annual Inventory:
A record must be made of the maximum number of pigs on a holding at least annually.
Movement Document:
All pig movements must be accompanied by either a self-declaration movement document or a licence issued by the local authority or DVM. A copy of the self-declaration movement document must be sent to the local authority within 3 days of the movement. A copy of the declaration/licence must be retained at the holding of destination for 6 months.
For further information please refer to our Current Documents section:
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Horses
All horses (includes ponies, donkeys and crossbreeds) are required to have their own ‘horse passport’.
The Horse Passport (Scotland) Regulations 2005 came into force in August 2005 and requires that when a horse (includes foal) is moved
- for competition purposes
- for breeding purposes;
- out of Scotland;
- to the premises of a new keeper; or
- for veterinary treatment
it must be accompanied by a valid horse passport.
It is an offence for any person to sell a horse without a passport
For further information please refer to our external links section titled Horses.
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