The announcement has been welcomed by the DUP’s Agriculture, Environment and Rural
Affairs Spokesperson Carla Lockhart MP.

The widely recognised UK9 identification prefix for cattle born in Northern Ireland has been replaced with XI0 to satisfy EU Animal Health Law introduced in April 2021. The UK17 sheep tags have been changed to XI17, while the UK identifier, 826 encoded on sheep EID tags ha
sbeen replaced with 899 to indicate NI origin.

The Upper Bann MP said: “The new format for cattle and sheep identification tags was announced in March with no prior consultation. Animal ear tag prefixes in Great Britain remain unchanged but Northern Ireland farmers are being forced to use the EU decreed designation XI.

“Such a change is nonsense. XI means nothing to anyone and dilutes the UK branding that is renowned throughout the world, for the high quality and excellent welfare and environmental standards associated with its livestock.”

The new XI ear tags have been available from approved suppliers since 24 th June.

Carla Lockhart continued: “Farmers have been concerned that the ‘XI’ prefix will cause confusion and jeopardise access to existing and premium GB markets, where the ‘UK’ prefix will remain in use.

“I am pleased that the DAERA Minster has listened to politicians and industry representatives, and has taken the decision to revise the length of the transition period. However, he needs to push back on this ridiculous and unnecessary change.“

Many herd owners have already bought tags and will need time to use existing stocks. The original January deadline was out of sync with the farming calendar and herd owners, especially those with spring calving enterprises, wouldn’t have had enough time to utilise tags. Implementing the January deadline would have forced farmers to destroy stocks of UK9 tags, resulting in a financial loss for livestock keepers.

”Ms Lockhart is urging livestock owners to continue using existing stocks of UK9 tags. “Ear tags that were already purchased prior to the 24 th June can be used during the ten-month transition period, but herd and flock owners must be aware that the ‘XI’ prefix is due to become mandatory at the end of June 2025.”

There is no statutory requirement to re-identify livestock already carrying UK9 ear tags; and if an animal double-tagged UK9 at birth loses a tag, then the tag supplier will issue a UK9 replacement.