- All cattle born or imported into Great Britain from 1st January 1998 are required to be double tagged.
- All cattle must be tagged within 20 days of birth. In the case of dairy herds, the first tag must be inserted within 36 hours.
- Each animal must have both a primary and a secondary tag, both of which must be ministry approved.
- All ministry approved primary tags are yellow plastic, two piece tags and distance readable.
- The secondary tag may be of the same type as the primary or alternatively of another type on the Defra list. There is no minimum size requirement on secondary tags, so button tags or metal tags may be used.
- If a tag is lost or illegible, it must be replaced. Lost tags fitted to animals born or imported after 1 January 1998 can only be replaced with a tag bearing the same number, as the animal must retain its unique number for life.
For animals born before 1 January 1998 you may:
Apply a single replacement tag bearing the same number.
Apply a new single tag bearing a new number. With this option the farm records must be amended and if the animal has a passport it must be sent to the BCMS for amendment; or,
Apply a new set of double tags. With this option, as above, the farm records must be amended and the passport sent to BCMS for amendment. Subsequent replacements must bear the same number.
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