Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Proposal to remove the requirement to
include some information in the holding
register of keepers of bovine animals in
England
Consultation on a Red Tape Challenge proposal to
reduce the regulatory burden for livestock
keepers
August 2014
Contents
Part A: Background .............................................................................................................. 1
1.
Purpose of the consultation .................................................................................... 1
2.
The current legislative base and the Red Tape Challenge ..................................... 1
Part B: Proposal for change ................................................................................................. 2
3.
Details of the proposal ............................................................................................ 2
4.
Expected costs and benefits ................................................................................... 2
Part C: Tell us what you think .............................................................................................. 3
5.
Your comments on the following questions are invited: .......................................... 3
Part A: Background
1. Purpose of the consultation
1.1 The Government is committed to reduce the regulatory burden on the farming
industry. Following a Red Tape Challenge on agriculture, this consultation seeks
views on a proposal to remove in England the requirement for keepers of bovine
animals to include in their holding register details on the identification of the mother
(dam) for bovine animals brought on to their holding. The requirement would
remain in force for bovine animals born on the holding.
1.2 We would welcome views on the issues covered by this consultation by Friday 31
October. Details of how to respond are set out in Part C of this document.
2. The current legislative base and the Red Tape
Challenge
2.1 EU Regulation 1760/20001 sets out the requirements for the identification and
registration of bovine animals (cattle, bison and buffalo). This Regulation imposes a
number of obligations on keepers of bovine animals. A keeper is any person
responsible for animals, whether on a permanent or on a temporary basis. One of
the provisions in EU Regulation 1760/2000 requires all keepers of bovine animals
except transporters to keep an up-to-date holding register. This includes farmers,
market and slaughterhouse operators and other holdings where animals are
gathered such as collection centres.
2.2 EU legislation requires that the holding register includes, for each bovine animal, its
identification code, its date of birth, sex and breed or colour of coat. Additionally, in
England the Cattle Identification Regulations 2007 include a requirement for the
holding register to include the mother’s (dam) identification of each bovine animal,
due to the high incidence of BSE at the time the original EU legislation was
implemented. This led to a world-wide trade ban for UK exports of beef and live
cattle in 1996. Information on the dam of each bovine animal was included as a
precautionary measure in stopping the spread of BSE, as transmission from dam to
calf was believed to be one of the methods of transmission of the disease.
2.3 In July 2013 Defra opened a consultation as part of the Red Tape Challenge in
Agriculture, asking the public for views on how the regulatory burden could be
reduced in England. The National Farmers Union (NFU) proposed that the
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References to legislation in this document are references to the legislation as amended from time to time.
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requirement to include the dam identification details in the holding register should
be removed, as it gold plated EU requirements.
2.4 In addition, a number of keepers keep their holding registers electronically and
download the information required in the holding register from the barcode in cattle
passports for bovine animals that moved on to their holding. However, the barcode
does not include the dam identification information, due to lack of space; therefore,
keepers of bovine animals have the additional burden of entering this information
manually even in cases where they have electronic holding registers.
Part B: Proposal for change
3. Details of the proposal
3.1 This consultation invites views on the proposal to amend the Cattle Identification
Regulations 2007 to remove in England the requirement for holding registers to
include the dam’s identification for each bovine animal that is moved on to the
holding. This reflects the fact that this requirement goes beyond EU requirements
and that dam identification details are included in the central database. When the
birth of a bovine animal is registered with the British Cattle Movement Service, the
information is recorded in the Cattle Tracing System. This includes the dam
information of each bovine animal.
3.2 The information is also no longer deemed essential for BSE control purposes. UK
BSE incidence is very low, with 3 cases in 2013 from a peak of over 37,000 cases
in 1992. So far in 2014 there have been no BSE cases confirmed in the UK. The
European Union lifted the ban on British beef exports in May 2006 and the UK has
been officially categorised internationally as ‘Controlled BSE Risk’ since May 2008.
3.3 We are not proposing to change the requirement for such information to be
recorded in the holding register for bovine animals born on the holding, to maintain
the robustness of the animal identification and tracing system. This is because
dairy calves are usually separated from their dams before the deadline to register
the birth to the database and, in that case, it is important that the dam information is
recorded in the holding register early or farmers risk having their applications for
cattle passports rejected if the information is incorrect.
3.4 Subject to the result of this consultation, the amendment to the Cattle Identification
Regulations 2007 to remove this requirement would take effect on 6 April 2015.
4. Expected costs and benefits
4.1 This proposal is not expected to generate any costs to keepers or Government.
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4.2 This proposal is expected to reduce the regulatory burden on keepers of bovine
animals as it reduces the time required to maintain their holding registers. As the
dam identification is not included in the barcode of cattle passports, keepers of
bovine animals need to enter manually the information on their holding register for
each bovine animal that moves on to their holding. We estimate the time saved by
this proposal would be an average of 15 seconds for each bovine animal that
moves on to a holding.
Part C: Tell us what you think
5. Your comments on the following questions are
invited:
i.
Do you agree with the proposal to remove the requirement for keepers of
bovine animals to include in their holding register details on the identification
of the dam for bovine animals brought on to the holding?
ii.
Are there other potential costs and benefits we should consider?
iii.
Do you agree with the estimate of 15 seconds saved for each bovine animal
that moves on to a holding?
5.1 A list of interested organisations Defra has approached directly for views will be
published on the Defra section of the Government web site. We welcome views
from all interested parties or individuals by 31 October 2014.
5.2 You can respond to this consultation in one of three ways.
 Online by completing the questionnaire at
consult.defra.gov.uk/farming/reducing-information-requirements-for-theholding/
 Email to cattleID@defra.gsi.gov.uk
 Post to:
Livestock Identification Team
Area 5B, Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR
5.3 Our preferred method is online because it is the fastest and most cost-effective way
for us to collate, analyse and summarise responses.
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5.4 Responses received by the deadline will be analysed and a summary will be placed
on the consultations section of the Government web site.
5.5 In line with Defra’s policy of openness, copies of the responses we receive will be
publically available, at the end of the consultation period, for at least 6 months. If
you do not consent to this, you must clearly request that your response be treated
confidentially. Any confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system in and email response will not be treated as such a request. You should also be aware that
there may be circumstances in which Defra will be required to release information
to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act and the
Environmental Information Regulations.
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© Crown copyright 2014
You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium,
under the terms of the Open Government Licence v.2. To view this licence visit
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2/ or email
PSI@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk
This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications
Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at:
Email: cattleID@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Livestock Identification Team
Area 5B, Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR
This document can be viewed at and responses submitted to the questions therein via the
Defra Citizens Space Consultation Hub at:
consult.defra.gov.uk/farming/reducing-information-requirements-for-the-holding/
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