It has been announced that the Livestock Information Service for reporting sheep, goat and deer movement will be launched in November 2021, retiring the current Animal Reporting and Movement Service (ARAMS).
Livestock Information Limited is a new company set up to improve how animal traceability is managed in England, and when moves occur between England, Wales and Scotland. The AHDB have a majority share in its ownership, with Defra holding a minority stake in the company, meaning that it is both part of government (and can collect statutory data) and part of the industry (so can make use of non-statutory data to provide information and analysis to livestock businesses).
The delivery model will be similar to that used in leading nations and has been advocated by the industry – through the Traceability Design User Group (TDUG) – to co-create the service and help define how Defra is delivering the programme.
It’s plan is to improve the ways that animal movements are reported, replacing current systems used to reporting sheep, cattle and pigs movements in several phases and, in the future, moving to a paperless process.
The new service will be used by markets (totalling some 65% of movements), abattoirs (making up 7% of movements), those who report on paper (around 20%) and those using the website (5%), with the remainder being moves between England, Scotland and Wales.
Livestock Information is now planning to begin communications with the livestock industry to explain how they can register for the new service and what they may need to do differently. It is also working closely with third party software providers to ensure that their software is upgraded, tested and ready for November.
Users who record livestock movements on paper or through a farm software package, the new service will not feel very different to the current ARAMS service, providing continuity between the old and new services. Also the law still requires movements to be recorded on paper, regardless of whether they are recorded electronically. Any subsequent changes will be subject to a period of public consultation.
While the system has been developed as a multispecies system for England, the company and Defra are working with the devolved administrations to agree how livestock data is shared across borders to ensure full traceability throughout the UK.
For more information go to www.livestockinformation.org.uk