Although France was a forerunner in the identification of cattle, and introduced an initial system that was extended to the whole herd in 1978, the identification and traceability of beef products are today compulsory, and have been standardized throughout the EU since 1998 (Council Regulation 820/97, which has since become Council Regulation 1760/2000).
Aims and requirements for the identification of cattle
The basic aims of the Community regulations regarding the identification of bovine livestock are as follows:
> locating and keeping track of animals for veterinary purposes, which is of the highest importance with regard to health and epidemiological monitoring as well as to the fight against infectious diseases, with the ultimate aim of protecting the health status of farms and of the country as a whole;
> traceability of beef in order to protect public health;
> management and supervision of production and market regulation subsidies within the framework of the common organisation of the market in beef.
However, the identification and systematic monitoring of all livestock and their movements are also of great importance for:
> the management of livestock production, and in particular of quality and production performance;
> the implementation of genetic improvement of livestock;
> certification with regard to intracommunity trade or export to third countries;
>information for consumers regarding livestock rearing conditions, and monitoring the quality of this information.
In order to carry out the identification and monitoring of livestock and their movements it is necessary:
> to define the instruments needed for the management of the identification and monitoring of livestock: codification of registration numbers of farms and livestock, accreditation of ear tags and of their manufacturers, design of registers and of cattle passports, definition of data recording methods, etc.
> to set up an organisation capable of looking after the identification of all farms and livestock, and their travel documents, of recording data about farms, livestock and their movements in a national, or even European, data base, and of providing support for livestock owners,
> to inform and train those who keep animals about the advantages to be had from the system (with regard to the day to day management of livestock, opening up of markets, etc), as well as about the available financial aid and about the risks incurred if livestock is not identified (problems regarding non-certification, possible penalties, etc),
> to have a monitoring authority empowered to take action on farms and roads, in order to inspect identification of livestock and their travel documents and take disciplinary action in the event of any irregularities.
The regulatory context
Legislation
> Core regulations: Regulation (EC) 1760/2000.
> Detailed regulations regarding ear tags, farm registers and passports: Regulation (EC) 911/2004.
> Preventive measures: Regulation (EC) 1082/2003.
> Penalties: Regulation (EC) 494/98.
> Special measures for bovines intended for cultural and sports events: Regulation (EC) 2680/99.
>Specific procedural requirements for movement of cattle intended for summer grazing in mountain areas: Decision 2001/672/EC of the Commission.
Four basic components
Regulation 1760/2000 specifies that identification, which is the responsibility of the ministry in charge of agriculture in each individual EU country, is based on four basic components:
> the allocation to each animal of a single national number worn on tags fixed to both ears;
> entry of the information regarding the identity of every bovine into a cattle register held by the producer in every livestock undertaking (farm, market, etc);
> communication of this information and entry into a national computerised data base;
> production of an identity document (cattle passport) to accompany every bovine travelling from one livestock undertaking to another.
In practice…
European regulations establish an obligation of result and leave it up to each member state to organize the ways of achieving this that they think fit.
Henceforth, the identification of cattle comprises the following steps:
> the identification of calves as soon as they are born by means of two approved plastic tags, one on each ear, carrying the two following pieces of information:
>>> the code corresponding to the country of birth,
>>> a single national identification number. This number consists of a number of digits which varies from one EU country to another, and various sequences of digits that make it possible to identify the administrative area (region, province, département, etc) and/or the farm where the calf was born, or which can be used as a work number. In France, for instance, the single number for each bovine consists of the country code (FR) followed by 10 digits (the first two digits correspond to the number of the département of birth).
The tags are allocated to each farm, distributed and attached to the livestock using procedures drawn up by the competent authority. Most EU countries leave it up to the producers themselves to attach the tags to the calves as soon as they are born on the farm.
> the updating of the identification data base by each livestock keeper. This procedure makes it possible to keep track of the animal’s movements from the moment it is born,
> the delivery of a document, known as a passport, which includes information about the identity and pedigree of the animal, as well as about the various places where the animal has been reared and has travelled through. A bar code generally enables the main information to be read automatically. Given that member states are already required to have a national data base that keeps track of all movements of livestock, they can nonetheless decide to issue passports only to livestock intended for intracommunity trade. In some countries (e.g. France), the passport also contains information about the animal’s health status and that of the farm. This health certificate is delivered by the veterinary authorities, and is regularly updated.
France:
As was the case in the past, the process of identification of cattle is under the general responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry delegates the practical running of the identification process to an official body (EDE, Etablissement départemental de l'élevage (Departmental Livestock Organisation)), which makes sure that a single number is allocated to each animal, as well as to the places where it has been reared and has travelled through, checks identity information, transfers this information to the data base, and delivers passports.
These operations are carried out on the basis of national guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Agriculture. Strict inspections, both of individual farms and via the data base, are carried out by the Departmental bodies in charge of identification, as well as by the civil authorities.
In addition, the reliability of the identification system is strengthened by security measures linked to each official component of identification: approved identity tags delivered by manufacturers who are officially approved on the basis of guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Agriculture, and passports printed on security paper, with each passport given its own single number.
The passport also contains information about the animal’s health status and that of the farm. This health certificate is delivered by the veterinary authorities, and is regularly updated.
