Identification and registration of animals (I&R)

Do you keep livestock or pet animals professionally in the Netherlands? Then you must comply with the regulations regarding identification and registration (I&R) of animals. You are not allowed to keep, buy, sell, transport, or move animals without registration. Identification and registration is important, in case of an outbreak of a contagious animal disease.

UBN registration

If you keep livestock or if you breed, buy, sell, or board pet animals commercially (in Dutch), you must register the location where you keep your animals (in Dutch). This applies to all pet animals you keep commercially, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, dogs, cats and other mammals such as hamsters and rabbits. For livestock, it makes no difference if you keep the animals as an entrepreneur or as a part-time/hobby farmer. You only need to register poultry and hatching eggs if you keep these animals commercially.

You will receive a unique business number (UBN) for the location where you keep your animals. The UBN will be registered in the I&R system for animals (in Dutch). You have to pay for your UBN each year (in Dutch). You need to register the location upfront.

You must register in the I&R system for the animal species with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, RVO) if you keep:

• cattle (in Dutch)
• equidae (horses, ponies, donkeys and zebras, in Dutch)
• sheep and goats (in Dutch)
• pigs (in Dutch)
• pets (commercial use, in Dutch)
• poultry (commercial use, over 250 animals, in Dutch)
• hatching eggs (commercial use, in Dutch)

If you want to export or import bees or bumblebees, or deer or camelids, to or from an EU country, you must request a UBN.

Identification

It must be possible to identify your animals. Livestock and dogs must have legally prescribed identification, such as (ear) tags or chips. You must also tag or chip animals you keep as a hobby.

Passports

You must report import and export of bovine animals (in Dutch). For each bovine animal you plan to export, you require a cattle passport.

Horses, ponies, donkeys, and zebras require a horse passport. A horse passport states the identification data and medical treatments an animal has had.

If you import dogs, cats, or ferrets, the animals must have a chip before entering the Netherlands. If you import or export these animals from or to another EU country, they must also have an European pet passport. Only a veterinarian is allowed to issue this passport.

Dogs must always have a European pet passport (dog passport).

Reporting

You must report any changes with regard to:

• births and deaths
• movement of stock
• imports and exports

You report the changes via RVO's I&R system (in Dutch).

Report movement of pigs

If you keep pigs, you should only report movements of pigs onto and off your holding, including dead animals. You have to do this this within 2 working days. You do not report births. You should report this via the Producer Organisation of Dutch Pig Farmers (Producentenorganisatie Varkenshouderij, POV, in Dutch) or via VIVA Veterinary B.V. (previously IKB Nederland) (in Dutch).

Identification and registration system for poultry

Do you keep poultry for commercial purposes (250 or more animals), or do you have a hatchery? You must apply for a UBN and a Poultry Flock Information System number (Koppel Informatiesysteem Pluimvee,KIP, in Dutch) with AVINED. This is the identification and registration system for the poultry sector. You should report changes (input and output, in Dutch) in KIP. If you have a hatchery, you should report the number of hatching eggs each month in KIP (in Dutch).