Commission Regulation (EC) No 933/2008 of 23 September 2008 amending the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 as regards the means of identification of animals and the content of the movement documents (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2008-09-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: data processing, electronic equipment, goat, health control, sheep, traceability, veterinary legislation

24.9.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 933/2008

of 23 September 2008

amending the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 as regards the means of identification
of animals and the content of the movement documents

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 of
17 December 2003 establishing a system for the identification
and registration of ovine and caprine animals and amending
Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and Directives 92/102/EEC
and 64/432/EEC (1), and in particular Article 10(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 provides that each Member
State is to establish a system for the identification and
registration of ovine and caprine animals in accordance
with the provisions of that Regulation.

That system is to comprise four elements, namely: means
of identification to identify each animal (means of iden­
tification), up-to-date registers kept on each holding,
movement documents and a central
register or a
computer database. The Annex to that Regulation sets
out the requirements for those elements.

Regulation (EC) No 21/2004, as amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1560/2007 (2), provides that electronic identifi­
cation is to be obligatory as from 31 December 2009.

On 17 November 2007, the Commission submitted a
report to the Council on the implementation of elec­
tronic identification in sheep and goats (3). That report
concludes that Member States should also be allowed to
approve new types of identifiers to identify sheep and
goats under certain conditions.

(5)

Technological developments have taken place in the field
of electronic identification. It is therefore appropriate to

(1) OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p. 8.
(2) OJ L 340, 22.12.2007, p. 25.
(3) COM(2007) 711.

(6)

(7)

(8)

identifiers

amend the requirements concerning the means of identi­
fication, set out in Regulation (EC) No 21/2004, in order
to allow a broader spectrum of technical combinations.
The newly developed means of identification, such as
injectable
and electronic marks on the
pastern, should accordingly be permitted as means of
identification pursuant
to that Regulation. However,
their use should be limited to national movements,
taking into account the need to gain further practical
experience of using those new means of identification.
As electronic identification will become the first means
of identification Member States should be allowed more
flexibility in using conventional means of identification
as a second identifier. Part A of the Annex to that Regu­
lation should therefore be amended accordingly.

Part B of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 sets
out the information which should be contained in the
up-to-date registers kept on each holding. Part of that
information is available only at the holding of birth. In
the interest of reducing the administrative burdens, it is
therefore appropriate to amend that part of the Annex.

all

for

animals born after

Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 provides that, as from
31 December 2009, electronic identification is to be
obligatory
that date.
However, during the first year after 31 December
2009, the majority of animals will only be identified
with conventional non-electronic identifiers, since those
animals are born before that date. During that year
animals with electronic and non-electronic identifiers
will be moved and handled together.

In addition,

The individual animal codes from non-electronic iden­
tifiers can only be recorded manually. Manual recording
of non-electronic identifiers requires considerable effort
on the part of keepers and constitutes a potential source
of errors.
it would be burdensome for
operators to separate the few animals with electronic
identifiers and to record their individual codes. Also, it
would be burdensome to request that electronic reading
systems are installed for individual recording, as the
majority of animals moved would still be identified
with conventional non-electronic eartags. Therefore, the
date from which the movement document is to contain
individual animal codes should be postponed until such
time as a substantial part of the sheep and goats popu­
lation has already been identified by electronic means.
The Commission’s report on the implementation of elec­
tronic identification in sheep and goats also reached that
conclusion.

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(9)

(10)

(11)

It is therefore appropriate to postpone until 1 January
2011 the date from which the movement document
must contain the individual identification code for each
animal. The date referred to in point 2 of Part C of the
Annex to Regulation (EC) No 21/2004, concerning the
movement document,
should therefore be amended
accordingly.

(12)

(13)

The particular situation of animals born before 1 January
2010 should be taken into account as regards the
to record individual animal codes in the
requirement
movement
associated with
risks
The
document.
movements of such animals to a slaughterhouse are
limited and do not justify the supplementary administra­
tive burden posed by that requirement. Animals moved
directly
should therefore be
exempted from that requirement regardless of the date
of movement of the animals.

slaughterhouse

to a

should therefore be

In addition, although animals born before 1 January
2010 would still form a substantial part of the sheep
and goats population in 2011, the risks associated with
their movements would be
constantly decreasing,
such
proportionally to the decrease in number of
animals until 31 December 2011. Movements of such
animals
exempted from the
requirement
to record individual animal codes in the
movement document until 31 December 2011. After
that date, the vast majority of the sheep and goats popu­
lation would be electronically identified and manual
recording would be necessary only in a small number
of cases, as it would only concern old animals which
are moved to other holdings and not to slaughterhouses.
The burden imposed on keepers by such recording after
31 December 2011, as well as the potential sources of
error, would then be within acceptable levels.

It is therefore appropriate to provide for certain transi­
tional provisions during the start-up period of the system
as regards the recording of individual animal codes in the
movement document of animals born before 1 January
2010.

Part C of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 sets
out the information which should be contained in the
the
movement document. The identification code of
the
holding of destination is not always available at
the
holding of departure. The name and address of
holding of destination or next keeper
should be
acceptable as an alternative.

(14)

Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

(15)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with
Standing
Committee of the Food Chain and Animal Health,

opinion

the

the

of

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The Annex to Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 is replaced by the
text in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 23 September 2008.

For the Commission

Androulla VASSILIOU
Member of the Commission

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ANNEX

‘ANNEX

A. MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION

1. The competent authority shall approve means of identification, as provided for in Article 4(1), which must be designed

to:

(a) ensure at least one visible and one electronically readable mark;

(b) remain attached to the animal without being harmful to it; and

(c) be easily removable from the food chain.

2. The means of identification must display a code providing the following information in the indicated order:

(a) either the two-letter alpha code or the three-digit numeric code (1), based on ISO 3166, for the Member State in

which the holding where the animal was first identified is situated (country code);

(b) an individual animal code of no more than 12 digits.

In addition to the codes referred to in points (a) and (b), and provided that the legibility of those codes is not affected,
the competent authority may authorise a bar code and the addition of supplementary information by the keeper.

(1)

Austria

Belgium

Bulgaria

Cyprus

AT

BE

BG

CY

Czech Republic CZ

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

United
Kingdom

DK

EE

FI

FR

DE

EL

HU

IE

IT

LV

LT

LU

MT

NL

PL

PT

RO

SK

SI

ES

SE

UK

040

056

100

196

203

208

233

246

250

276

300

348

372

380

428

440

442

470

528

616

620

642

703

705

724

752

826

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3. The first means of identification referred to in Article 4(2)(a) must comply with the criteria set out in either point (a)

or (b):

(a) an electronic identifier in the form of a ruminal bolus or an electronic eartag, in accordance with the technical

characteristics listed in point 6; or

(b) an eartag made of non-degradable material, which is tamper-proof and easy to read throughout the lifetime of the

animal; it must be non-reusable and the codes referred to in point 2 must be non-removable.

4. The second means of identification, as provided for in Article 4(2)(b), must comply with the following criteria:

(a)

for animals identified in accordance with point 3(a):

(i) an eartag which complies with the criteria set out in point 3(b); or

(ii) a mark on the pastern which complies with the criteria for eartags set out in point 3(b); or

(iii) a tattoo, except for animals involved in intra-Community trade;

(b) for animals identified in accordance with point 3(b):

(i) an electronic identifier which complies with the criteria set out in point 3(a); or

(ii) for animals not involved in intra-Community trade, an electronic identifier in the form of an electronic mark
on the pastern or of an injectable transponder in accordance with the technical characteristics listed in point 6;
or

(iii) where electronic identification is not obligatory, pursuant to Article 9(3):

— an eartag, which complies with the criteria set out in point 3(b),

— a mark on the pastern, which complies with the criteria for the eartags set out in point 3(b), or

— a tattoo.

5. The system referred to in Article 4(2)(c) requires the identification of the animals both by holding and individually,
provides for a replacement procedure where a means of identification has become illegible or has been lost, under the
control of the competent authority and without compromising traceability between holdings, the objective being to
control epizootic diseases, and allows the animals’ movements to be traced within the national territory, with the same
objective.

6. The electronic identifiers must conform to the following technical characteristics:

(a)

they must be read-only passive transponders applying HDX or FDX-B technology, complying with ISO standards
11784 and 11785;

(b) they must be readable by reading devices, complying with ISO standard 11785, capable of reading HDX and FDX-

B transponders;

(c)

the reading distance must be:

(i) a minimum of 12 cm for eartags and marks on the pastern when read with a portable readers;

(ii) a minimum of 20 cm for ruminal boluses and injectable transponders when read with a portable reader;

(iii) a minimum of 50 cm for all types of identifiers when read with a stationary reader.

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7. The identification method referred to in Article 4(3), shall be as follows:

(a)

the animals must be identified by an eartag approved by the competent authority, applied to one ear;

(b) the eartag must be of non-degradable material, tamper-proof and easy to read; it must be non-reusable and must

bear only non-removable codes;

(c)

the eartag must contain at least the following information:

(i) the two-letter country code (1); and

(ii) the identification code of the holding of birth or an individual animal code from which the holding of birth

can be determined.

Member States using that alternative method must inform the Commission and the other Member States thereof, in
the framework of the Committee referred to in Article 13(1).

If animals identified in accordance with this point are either kept beyond the age of 12 months or are intended for
intra-Community trade or export to third countries and in all cases are still kept in the holding of birth, then they
must be identified in accordance with points 1 to 4 before leaving that holding.

B. HOLDING REGISTER

1. From 9 July 2005, the holding register must contain at least the following information:

(a)

the identification code of the holding;

(b) the address of the holding and the geographical coordinates or equivalent indication of the geographical location

of the holding;

(c)

the type of production;

(d) the result of the latest inventory referred to in Article 7 and the date on which it was carried out;

(e)

the name and address of the keeper;

(f)

in the case of animals leaving the holding:

(i) the name of the transporter;

(ii) the registration number of the part of the means of transport carrying the animals;

(iii) the identification code or the name and address of the holding of destination or, in the case of animals moved
to a slaughterhouse, the identification code or name of the slaughterhouse and the date of departure;

or a duplicate or a certified copy of the movement document referred to in Article 6;

(g)

in the case of animals arriving on the holding, the identification code of the holding from which the animal was
transferred and the date of arrival;

(h) information on any replacement of means of identification.

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2. From 31 December 2009, the holding register must contain at least the following up-to-date information for each

animal born after that date:

(a)

the identification code of the animal;

(b) in the holding of birth, the year of birth and date of identification;

(c)

the month and the year of death of the animal on the holding;

(d) if known, the breed and the genotype.

However, for animals identified in accordance with point 7 of Section A, the information set out in (a) to (d) of this
point must be provided for each batch of animals having the same identification and must include the number of
animals.

3. The holding register must contain the name and signature of the designated or approved officer of the competent

authority who has checked the register and the date on which the check was carried out.

C. MOVEMENT DOCUMENT

1. The movement document must be completed by the keeper on the basis of a model drawn up by the competent

authority. It must contain at least the following information:

(a)

the identification code of the holding;

(b) the name and address of the keeper;

(c)

the total number of animals moved;

(d) the identification code or the name and address of the holding of destination or of the next keeper of the animals
or, when animals are moved to a slaughterhouse, the identification code or the name and location of the
slaughterhouse, or, in the event of transhumance, the place of destination;

(e)

the data concerning the means of transport and the transporter, including the transporter’s permit number;

(f)

the date of departure;

(g) the signature of the keeper.

2. From 1 January 2011, the movement document must contain the individual

identification code for each animal
identified in accordance with points 1 to 6 of Section A, in addition to the information set out in point 1 of this
section.

3. However, the information provided for in point 2 shall not be obligatory for animals born until 31 December 2009:

(a) on their movement to a slaughterhouse, directly or via a channelling procedure excluding subsequent movements

to any other holding;

(b) until 31 December 2011 for all other movements.

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D. COMPUTER DATABASE

1. The computer database must contain at least the following information for each holding:

(a)

the identification code of the holding;

(b) the address of the holding and the geographical coordinates or equivalent indication of the geographical location

of the holding;

(c)

the name and address and occupation of the keeper;

(d) the species of animals;

(e)

the type of production;

(f)

the result of the inventory of animals provided for in Article 7(2), and the date when the inventory was carried
out;

(g) a data field reserved for the competent authority in which it may enter animal health information, for example
information in the context of Community or national

restrictions on movements, status or other relevant
programmes.

2. In accordance with Article 8, there must be an entry in the database for each separate movement of animals.

That entry must comprise at least the following information:

(a)

the number of animals being moved;

(b) the identification code of the holding of departure;

(c)

the date of departure;

(d) the identification code of the holding of arrival;

(e)

the date of arrival.’