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Livestock movements, identification and tracing: Cattle Identification Inspections Programme Great Britain 2002

Report to the European Commission on the results of controls made in the bovine sector regarding European Community provisions for identification and registration

1. Information linked to results according to Article 5 (1) (a), (b) and (c) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2630/97 , as amended:

  1. Total number of holdings registered in Member State’s territory at the beginning of the inspection period: 110,445
  2. Total number of holdings inspected: 11,706
  3. Total number of inspections made: 11,706
  4. Breakdown of the selection of the holdings inspected according to the criteria of risk analysis and with reference to the authority that undertook these inspections:

    i) Inspections were undertaken:

    • in England, by inspecting officers of the Rural Payments Agency on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
    • in Scotland, by inspecting officers of the Scottish Executive’s eighteen Area Offices
    • in Wales, by inspecting officers of the National Assembly for Wales Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department’s three Divisional Offices

    ii) In accordance with Article 2.1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2630/97, on-farm inspections for cattle identification in GB are carried out in conjunction with bovine subsidy inspections

    iii) Risk analysis selection of holdings is run separately for England, Scotland and Wales. The risk strata in the computer programs for selection are designed to use the criteria set out in Article 2.4 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2630/97 for cattle registration and tracing, and also include bovine subsidy risk criteria. An initial random selection is made from all holdings. The strata described below are then used to target selection on a risk basis. A filter is used to prevent selection of holdings inspected in the previous year’s programme, where a satisfactory level of compliance was found. This is in order to prevent herds and claimants being selected year on year under some strata (such as herd size), even though the authorities know that the keepers have a good compliance record

    England

    The selection is run twice in the year. The following risk criteria were used in the first selection:

    • Herd size
    • Notifiable diseases (TB and BSE)
    • Passport application and claim anomalies (late application and keeper errors)
    • Suckler Cow Premium risk elements
    • Bovine Subsidy value
    • Length of time since previous inspection; failed previous inspection

    If any strata (apart from herd size) does not fill its complement, a fallback stratum of change in pattern in reporting births and movements is used to top up.

    The second selection risk criteria were:
    • failed on error codes critical to Date-Based Export Scheme
    • changes from previous years in birth, movement and death reporting and claim activity
    • referred for suspected non-compliance separately to annual inspection programme
    • Aggregated Scheme penalties
    • Beef Special Premium subsidy risk elements
    • Extensification Premium scheme risk elements
    • withdrawal of claims
    Scotland and Wales
    Scotland and Wales use the same risk criteria for the selection of holdings on cattle registration and tracing criteria. This is done only once a year. The risk criteria are:
    • failed inspection in previous year
    • numbers of births and movements
    • referred for suspected non-compliance separately to annual inspection programme
    • herd size
    • notifiable diseases (TB and BSE)
    • changes in birth, movement and death reporting activity shown in previous years (this is used as a fallback stratum)
    • late, amended or cancelled passport applications

    A further selection is made on using bovine scheme risk elements.

  5. Total number of livestock registered: 9,397,089 (January 2002)
  6. Total number of bovines which have been inspected: 1,375,593 animals have been physically inspected together with their herd register entry and official documents. Additionally, a further 806,275 herd register entries have been inspected on farms for cattle registered as having been on the inspected holding but moved off.
    Total: 2,181,868
  7. i) Cattle present on the selected holdings were physically inspected to check compliance with tagging regulations

    ii) The following official documents were checked to ensure that the tags and documents matched each other, and the record on the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) computer database:

    • Cattle passports
    • Cattle Identification Documents (formerly issued for male bovines born before 28 September 1998)
    • Certificates of CTS registration (issued for cattle too old to require a passport, that is, born before 1 July 1996 in GB)

    iii) The herd register entry for each animal was checked to ensure that the details matched the official documents and the animal’s records on the CTS computer database

    iv) The herd register entries for cattle which had been registered on the CTS database as born on or imported to the holding, but subsequently moved off within the previous 30 months, were inspected for accuracy on a 10% random sampling basis. If inaccuracies were found, inspection was increased to 20%, and to a full records inspection if further inaccuracies were found. This check now covers only cattle still shown to be alive on CTS

    v) A check was made of ear tag storage facilities

    vi) Assessment of standard of herd register

2. Information linked to results according to Article 5.1(d) and (e) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2630/97 (as amended):

  1. Number of breaches found and, in particular, the types of discrepancies observed per type of checks made in accordance with point 1 (g) above:

    i) Of the 2,181,868 animals and records inspected, 295,476 were found to be discrepant. The discrepancies identified were as follows:

    Discrepancy
    Number of bovines (including herd register entries)
    Percentage of bovines inspected
    Incorrect dam identification (including transposition, addition or omission of digits in official number)
    50,343
    2.31%
    Missing or incorrect ear tag(s)
    14,998
    0.69%
    Animal present, but not found in herd register
    33,945
    1.56%
    Incorrect date of birth on database and passport
    10,561
    0.48%
    Incorrect breed or sex on database and passport
    9,956
    0.46%
    Animal found on holding without passport
    18,574
    0.85%
    Movement information not or incorrectly recorded in herd register
    60,156
    2.76%
    Failure to report movement to the database
    73,289
    3.36%
    Official ID document found on farm, but no animal present
    26,521
    1.22%
    Animal recorded in herd register as dead, but official id document not returned
    23,722
    1.09%
    Male bovine with Cattle Identification Document (CID) (England and Wales) or Cattle Control Document (CCD) (Scotland)
    20
    0.00%

  2. Types of sanctions imposed according to Commission Regulation (EC) No 494/98, and the status of their follow-up, according to the types of checks made and breaches found in accordance with 1(g) and 2(a)

    i) Of the cattle physically inspected, the movements of 6,320 were restricted . Keepers of these cattle may only move them once the discrepancy has been rectified

    ii) Of the holdings inspected, 148 whole herd restrictions were imposed where more than 20% of the cattle on the holding were found to have identification discrepancies. 72 holdings have had the whole herd restrictions lifted as a result of corrective actions by the keeper

    iii) 599 notices were issued to keepers to identify within 48 hours unidentified animals found on 45 holdings. Of these, 42 animals have been slaughtered without compensation on 3 holdings. A further 501 animals have been identified and the notice lifted, with 56 animals awaiting re-inspection

    iv) Where discrepant passports were found on an inspection, these were confiscated by the inspecting officer and returned to the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) for correction

    v) Keepers on whose holding discrepancies were found were given written reports explaining what corrective action needed to be taken. Individual animals under movement restriction may be re-checked on an ad hoc basis. Holdings on which complete herd restrictions are imposed are re-inspected

    vi) Any breaches of a serious nature, with potential risks for human or animal health, are referred for investigation by the Defra Investigation Branch (England and Wales) and the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department with a view to prosecution in the Courts. In this inspection year, 22 cases were referred; none have resulted in prosecution, but 17 are still under investigation

Report produced by:

Livestock Identification Division
Animal Health Directorate
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Statistics prepared by:

British Cattle Movement Service/Rural Payments Agency
for
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department
National Assembly for Wales Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department

30 June 2003

Page last modified: 30 November, 2007
Page published: 12 February, 2007

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs