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Livestock identification and registration (I&R)

This information is provided by:Netherlands Enterprise Agency, RVONetherlands Enterprise Agency, RVONederlandse versie

Do you keep animals (Livestock) in the Netherlands? Then you must comply with the regulations regarding identification and registration (I&R) of the animals. You are not allowed to keep, buy, sell, transport, or move animals without registration.

UBN registration

As a livestock farmer, you must register the location where you keep your farm animals. This applies to entrepreneurs as well as part-time/hobby farmers (in Dutch) You only need to register poultry and hatching eggs if you keep the animals commercially. You must register in the I&R system for the animal species with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijkdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, RVO) if you keep:

You will be given a unique business number (UBN) for the location where the animals are kept. The UBN will be registered in the I&R system for animals (in Dutch).

Reporting

You must report any changes in the I&R system of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency with regard to:

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

You can find more information on reporting these changes on the abovementioned RVO pages per animal species.

Identification

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

Identification and registration system for poultry

Do you keep poultry for commercial purposes (250 or more animals)? You should report changes (input and output, in Dutch). Do you have a hatchery? You should report the number of hatching eggs each month (in Dutch). You can enter the data yourself in the Poultry Flock Information System (Koppel Informatiesysteem Pluimvee,KIP, in Dutch). This is the identification and registration system for the poultry sector. As a poultry farmer, you can enter data yourself.

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 (in Dutch). A horse passport states the identification data and medical treatments an animal has had.

Dogs must have a European pet passport. Only a veterinarian is allowed to issue this passport.

For more information, please contact the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (in Dutch).

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