Changes to bovine identification, registration and movement in England
Applies to England
Read the full outcome
Detail of outcome
From 21 September to 15 November 2023, we sought views on proposed changes to the identification, registration, and movement of cattle in England.
We聽received 1,146 responses to the consultation, from farmers, wider industry聽representatives and businesses.聽Overall, proposed changes received more support than opposition.
We聽will introduce changes to cattle identification, registration, and reporting from summer 2026. This will improve the government鈥檚 ability to respond effectively and strengthen long-term resilience to animal diseases, while simplifying regulations and supporting industry to boost productivity, food security and international trade.
We will continue to work with industry and stakeholders to develop an implementation plan that works聽for everyone.
Original consultation
Consultation description
Cattle traceability helps to protect the national herd from disease and safeguard our food chain.
The proposals aim to improve cattle traceability by making it easier to navigate and less time consuming for farmers, ease administrative burden by reducing duplication and taking advantage of digitisation.
This will help farmers and the cattle industry to provide traceability data so we can collectively trace disease more quickly and effectively, improve public health and food safety through better data quality and improved traceability, and support industry by strengthening the UK position in international markets.
Proposals in the consultation include:
- simplifying the regulations
- more proportionate enforcement
- bovine electronic identification
- the future of holding registers
- the future of passports for cattle fitted with bovine electronic identification
- movements and reporting (including whole movement reporting)
- options to report moves in advance and provide transportation details, paperless processing and late registration of calves
Updates to this page
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Added the summary of responses and government response.
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First published.