United Kingdom Statutory Instruments

"cattle" means bovine animals, including bison and buffalo;

"cattle passport" means—

(a) his name and address; and

(b) the address of the holding.

    (2) When he receives notification under paragraph (1) the Secretary of State must issue a herdmark for each holding.

    (3) The occupier must notify the Secretary of State of any change to the information in paragraph (1) within one month.

(a) is the competent authority for the purposes of approving ear tags for the purposes of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000; and

(b) on application from a manufacturer of approved ear tags, must issue unique identification codes for the purposes of that Article, conforming with the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 911/2004 (except that he may refuse to allocate numbers in the circumstances set out in Article 1(5) of that Regulation).

    (2) The person responsible for identifying cattle by means of an ear tag applied to each ear in accordance with Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 is the keeper.

    (3) In accordance with Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000—

(a) in the case of a dairy herd, the keeper must apply one ear tag to the calf within 36 hours of birth and the second tag within 20 days of birth;

(b) in the case of any other herd (other than bison) the keeper must apply both tags within 20 days of birth;

(c) in the case of bison, in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 509/1999, the keeper must apply both tags when the calves are separated from their dams or within nine months of the birth, whichever is the sooner.

    (4) Any person who fails to comply with the requirement in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 to apply an ear tag within the period specified in paragraph (3) above is guilty of an offence.

Form of ear tags
     2. —(1) Ear tags applied under Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 must be approved by the Secretary of State.

    (2) In accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 911/2004, both ear tags must have the logo specified in paragraph 11 (in the case of a two-piece ear tag, both pieces must have it), the letters "UK" and the unique number allocated by the Secretary of State.

    (3) In accordance with Article 1(3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 911/2004 an ear tag may also have a bar code.

    (4) The power in Article 4 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 911/2004 (a power to choose other material or model for the second ear tag) may be exercised by the Secretary of State.

Movement from a holding
     3. —(1) Subject to paragraph (3), any person who moves an animal from a holding in breach of the third paragraph of Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 is guilty of an offence.

    (2) Subject to paragraph (3), any person who moves from a holding cattle that should have been tagged or marked under previous cattle tagging legislation and that are not correctly tagged or marked is guilty of an offence.

    (3) If an animal at a market is not correctly tagged or marked, an inspector may issue a licence to the keeper permitting the animal to be moved from the market to a holding specified in the licence.

    (4) Any person who moves an animal in breach of the licence or any condition of the licence is guilty of an offence.

Replacement ear tags
     4. —(1) The Secretary of State is the competent authority for the purposes of Article 4(5) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000, and any person who either removes or replaces an ear tag (or an ear tag attached under previous cattle tagging legislation) without permission in contravention of that Article or Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 is guilty of an offence.

    (2) If a keeper of an animal born in Great Britain on or after 1st January 1998 discovers that an ear tag has become illegible or has been lost, he must, within 28 days of the discovery, replace it with another ear tag bearing the same number (which must be a primary tag if the original was primary, or a primary or secondary tag if the original tag was secondary) and failure to do is an offence.

    (3) If a keeper of an animal born in Great Britain before 1st January 1998 discovers that an ear tag has become illegible or has been lost, he must, within 28 days of the discovery, either re-tag the animal with another single tag, or re-tag it with double tags in accordance with these Regulations, and any person failing to do so is guilty of an offence.

    (4) If an animal born outside Great Britain loses an ear tag the keeper must, within 28 days of discovering that the ear tag has been lost, re-tag it using a replacement tag that has—

(a) the crown logo specified in paragraph 11; and

(b) the original identification code,

and any person failing to do so is guilty of an offence.

    (5) It is an offence to apply an ear tag to an animal if it has previously been used to identify a different animal.

    (6) It is an offence to apply an ear tag to an animal if the ear tag number has already been used on a different animal.

    (7) Paragraphs (2) to (4) do not apply to the occupier of a slaughterhouse or the operator of a market.

Change of ear tag number
     5. If an animal born before 1st January 1998 is re-tagged with a different ear tag number, the keeper must, within 14 days of the new ear tag being attached and in any event before the animal is moved off the holding, notify the Secretary of State of the new ear tag number and return the old cattle passport with an application for a new cattle passport to be issued with the new ear tag number, and failure to do so is an offence.

Ear tags for animals kept for cultural or historical purposes
     6. —(1) A person who keeps cattle for cultural or historical purposes may apply to the Secretary of State to have his holding registered for this purpose in accordance with Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 644/2005.

    (2) If the Secretary of State has approved a holding for these purposes, the derogation relating to tagging in Article 2 of that Regulation applies provided that the cattle are identified by means of an electronic identifier contained in a ruminal bolus.

Temporary marks
     7. If an animal is not tagged in accordance with these Regulations or previous cattle tagging legislation, an inspector may apply an identification mark to it.

Intra-Community trade
     8. It is an offence to consign an animal for intra-Community trade unless it is tagged in each ear with an ear tag approved by the Secretary of State in accordance with Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000.

Imports from third countries
     9. —(1) Any person who fails to apply ear tags to an animal imported from a third country within 20 days of the animal being released from the border inspection post at which it was imported, and in any event before the animal leaves the holding of destination, as specified in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000, is guilty of an offence.

    (2) It is a defence for any person charged under this regulation to prove that—

(a) when the animal was imported, the holding of destination was a slaughterhouse, and

(b) the animal was slaughtered within 20 days of leaving the border inspection post.

Alteration and storage of ear tags
     10. —(1) It is an offence to alter, obliterate or deface an ear tag applied under Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 or previous cattle tagging legislation, or a temporary mark applied by an inspector in accordance with paragraph 7 (application of temporary marks).

    (2) Any person who has in his possession unused ear tags issued for the purposes of these Regulations must keep them in a secure place, and failure to do so is an offence.

Logo for ear tags
     11. The crown logo for ear tags is—

(a) using the Secretary of State's interactive website;

(b) using software approved by the Secretary of State; or

(c) in writing, using the application form provided by the Secretary of State,

and must provide all the required information.

Registration of birth
     3. —(1) When a calf is born its keeper must register it within 7 days from the date it is tagged (or, in the case of a dairy herd, from the date on which the second ear tag is applied to the animal).

    (2) In the case of bison, the time limit for registration is 7 days from the birth of the calf, whether or not the animal has been tagged, and the application must state the tag number intended to be used for the animal.

Registration of cattle brought in from another member State etc.
     4. —(1) If cattle are brought in from another member State, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Northern Ireland, the keeper must, within 15 days of an animal arriving at the holding of destination—

(a) register it with the Secretary of State, and

(b) surrender its cattle passport (if any) to him.

    (2) If cattle are brought in from a place specified in sub-paragraph (1) and the holding of destination is a market or a showground, the provisions of sub-paragraph (1) do not apply until the animal reaches a holding that is not a market or a showground.

    (3) The requirement to register does not apply in relation to cattle at a slaughterhouse.

Cattle from outside the European Union
     5. —(1) In the case of cattle imported from outside the European Union the keeper must register an animal within 15 days from the date that the animal must be tagged in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000.

    (2) The requirement to register does not apply in relation to cattle at a slaughterhouse.

(a) the date of movement on to the holding,

(b) the name and address of the keeper (or, in the case of a market, the operator of the market) and the holding number, using if practicable the bar code label provided by the Secretary of State,

and must sign it.

    (3) He must do this within 36 hours of the arrival of the animal.

    (4) No one may move the animal off the holding until the passport has been completed in accordance with this paragraph.

    (5) Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.

Imported cattle
     12. —(1) In the case of cattle brought into England from outside Great Britain, the animal may be moved from the place it was brought into England to the holding at which it must be registered in accordance with paragraph 4 or 5 of Schedule 2 using its passport (if it has one) or its movement document.

    (2) If it has a passport its keeper must complete it in accordance with this Schedule, and failure to do so is an offence.

Exports
     13. —(1) Where cattle are exported to third countries the keeper must send the cattle passports to the Secretary of State within seven days, and failure to do so is an offence.

    (2) When cattle are transported outside Great Britain to a destination within the European Union the transporter must ensure that each animal is accompanied by its passport, and failure to do so is an offence.

Markets and animal gatherings
     14. —(1) The operator of a market or other animal gathering commits an offence if any cattle are accepted without a valid cattle passport (or, in the case of imported cattle, documentation permitting them to be moved).

    (2) In this and the following paragraph "animal gathering" means an occasion at which animals are brought together for one or more of the following purposes—

(a) a sale, show or exhibition;

(b) onward consignment; or

(c) inspection to confirm the animals possess specific breed characteristics.

Licences
     15. An officer of the Secretary of State (or, in the case of an animal at a market, animal gathering or slaughterhouse, an inspector) may at any time issue a licence for cattle to be moved without a cattle passport if he is satisfied that it is necessary to do so and that it is not practicable to obtain one.

(a) using the Secretary of State's interactive website;

(b) using software approved by the Secretary of State; or

(c) in writing, using the movement card provided by the Secretary of State,

and must provide all the required information.

    (2) Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.

Notification of death
     2. —(1) When an animal is slaughtered in a slaughterhouse, the occupier of the slaughterhouse must notify the death by completing the death details in the passport and giving it to the official veterinarian or his representative at the time of slaughter.

    (2) If an animal is slaughtered outside a slaughterhouse but sent to a slaughterhouse for dressing, the keeper must complete the death details in the passport and send it with the animal to the slaughterhouse, and the occupier of the slaughterhouse must notify the death by giving the passport to the official veterinarian or his representative when the animal arrives at the slaughterhouse.

    (3) In any other case, when an animal dies or is killed the keeper must notify the death by completing the death details in the passport and sending it to the Secretary of State within seven days.

    (4) If an animal does not have a cattle passport, the keeper must notify its death to the Secretary of State in writing within seven days, and include the ear tag number, the date of death and the holding on which it died.

    (5) In this paragraph "official veterinarian" means the person appointed as such by the Food Standards Agency.

    (6) Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.

(a) in the case of the movement of an animal on or off a holding, within 36 hours of the movement;

(b) in the case of the birth of an animal in a dairy herd, within 7 days of the birth;

(c) in the case of the birth of an animal otherwise than in a dairy herd, within 30 days of the birth;

(d) in the case of the death of an animal, within 7 days of the death;

(e) in the case of a replacement ear tag where the ear tag number is changed, within 36 hours of the replacement.