Livestock identification, registration and traceability

Denmark has a comprehensive system for animal identification and registration. The data are recorded in a central database, called the Central Husbandry Register (CHR), which is owned by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. DVFA has a contract with the agricultural industry for the maintenance of the database.

The CHR stores information on holdings, ID's of cattle, movement of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats and veterinary information of holdings. Thus, an important part of the register is related to the movement of animals.

The Central Husbandry Register
All herds with cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and commercial herds with deer, poultry, foxes, minks and fish are recorded in the database. The CHR stores information on the unique holding code, the address and the geographic coordinates of the holding, data on the owner and keeper of the herds present (name, address and contact numbers), animal species, number of animals of all species, allocation of ear tags and veterinary information.

Since 1998, data on each individual head of cattle has been stored. Individual animal information include the unique animal identification code, date of birth, breed, sex, identification code of the dam (in case of embryo transfer both the genetic and recipient dam is recorded), information on offspring (only for females), allocation of ear tags including replacement tags, all movements made by the animal (date, place and type of movement) and veterinary events, if any. In 1999, the European Commission approved the CHR as being a fully operational database for cattle registration.

Since 2002, movements of pigs have been recorded in the CHR. For each batch of pigs being moved the following information is recorded: The number of pigs moved, the date and time of shipment, CHR of holding of origin, CHR of holding of destination and registration number and country code of the vehicle used for the transportation. With this information, complete traceability of pigs and vehicles used for transport of pigs is achieved.

Since 1 November 2002, movements of sheep and goats have also been recorded in the CHR. For each batch of animals being moved the following information is recorded: The number of animals, the date, holding of origin and the destination of the animals.

Information in the CHR database is available to the public on the Internet.

Validation of data in CHR
To secure a high level of data quality in the CHR, various procedures of data validation are in operation.

The validation procedures include automatic control systems with procedures including follow-ups on missing, inconsistent or late notifications. Farmers will be asked to correct data and may be facing legal actions.

Once a year every farmer is asked to confirm or correct the registered information in the CHR on his herds. This includes information on number of animals; name, address and contact number of owner and keeper; the veterinary clinic responsible for the herd; and the type of herd (e.g. dairy or beef cattle).
The farmer can confirm or correct data using this Internet site.

Identification of animals
Cattle must be tagged with two ear tags no later than 20 days after birth and before they leave the holding of origin. One of the ear tags must be electronic.

Pigs must be tagged with one ear tag before leaving the holding of origin. However, slaughtering pigs can be marked with a tattoo. Also, Denmark is introducing a system of moving of slaughtering pigs without any tagging. To use this procedure all pigs loaded on the lorry must come from slaughtering herds having the same owner and all the pigs must have the same herd of origin (birth). On the abattoirs using this system there must be procedures to ensure that the traceability of the pigs is secured.

Since 1 January 2003, sheep and goats must be tagged with two ear tags no later than 60 days after birth and before leaving the holding of origin. A lost ear tag must be replaced.

For cattle, sheep and goats the animal identification code is printed on the ear tag. The identification code consists of the holding code plus an individual number. A replacement tag has the same identification code and printing as the original ear tag. Moreover, the replacement tag is printed with a version number in Roman (e.g. 'I'). For pigs the holding code of the holding of origin is printed on the ear tag. A replacement tag for pigs can be printed with the holding code of the animal's current location.

Movement documents
Cattle moved to other EU member states must be accompanied by a passport with information on the animal and the herd. When sheep and goats are moved they must be accompanied by a health document – even when they are moved for slaughter. A group of sheep or goats can be accompanied by one document provided that the animals are moved at the same time and between the same locations.

Both the passport and the health document are issued by CHR. The documents cannot be issued if the animal or the herd is under official restrictions due to suspicion or confirmation of a notifiable disease or due to failure to comply with the provisions of animal identification and registration.
The documents can be issued via this Internet site by the farmer himself.

On-the-spot inspections
The Danish authorities perform on-the-spot inspections of cattle, sheep and goat holdings. Every year the authorities inspect 3 % of all cattle, sheep and goat holdings. The inspectors check whether the provisions of animal identification and registration have been followed. The selection of the herds is based on a risk analysis. All results of the inspections are recorded in the CHR.

Failure to comply with the provisions may affect the farmer’s EU subsidies as a consequence of cross compliance. Furthermore, the farmer may be fined following national legal action.

The use of CHR in control of animal diseases
The CHR database is an effective tool for tracing contact herds to herds suspected or infected with a notifiable disease. Furthermore, the CHR helps to control further spreading of diseases, as the competent authority will impose movement restrictions on holdings and individual cattle in case of suspicions or outbreaks of notifiable diseases. Restrictions will also be imposed in case of failure to comply with the provisions of animal identification and registration. This implies that the farmer is not allowed to move animals from the holding, and accompanying movement documents cannot be issued.

Moreover, to secure the production of safe food all abattoirs must consult CHR before slaughtering cattle in order to make sure that the animal is correctly recorded in the CHR, and that the animal or herd is not under restrictions. Before slaughtering sheep and goats abattoirs must also make sure that the herd sending off the animals is not under restrictions.

Contact
Centre for Veterinary Disease Control, Animal Welfare and Trade
E.mail: afd-oms-dyr@fvst.dk