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 for the 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, for example in case of an outbreak of a contagious animal disease.
UBN registration
If you keep livestock you must register the location where you keep your animals (in Dutch). 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 for each species kept on your location (in Dutch). You need to register the location upfront. It makes no difference if you keep the animals as an entrepreneur or as a part-time/hobby farmer.
You must also register for a UBN if you breed, buy, sell, or board pet animals commercially (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.
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)
- bees and bumblebees (you report the location of the bee population on 1 February, and when you export or import a population to or from an EU country, in Dutch)
- deer and camelids (in Dutch)
Identification
It must be possible to identify your animals. Livestock, deer, camelids, 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 need a cattle passport.
Horses, ponies, donkeys, and zebras must have a horse passport. This states the identification data and medical treatments the animal has had.
If you import dogs, cats, or ferrets, the animals must have a chip before they enter the Netherlands. If you import or export these animals from or to another EU country, they must also have an European pet passport. Dogs must always have a European pet passport (dog passport). Only a veterinarian in the EU may issue this pet passport.
Reporting
You must report any changes with regard to:
- births and deaths
- movement of stock
- imports and exports
- emergency slaughter
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 within 2 working days. You should report this via the Producer Organisation of Dutch Pig Farmers (Producentenorganisatie Varkenshouderij, POV, in Dutch) or via IKB Nederland (in Dutch). You do not report births.
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).