Changes to Northern Ireland’s Livestock Tag Prefix
in Announcements 1st March 2024
In early March, DAERA announced changes to the livestock tag prefix in Northern Ireland under EU Animal Health Law. The prefix code on Northern Ireland Livestock Tags will change from “UK” to “XI” and this will be fully implemented from January 2025. Tags with the new “XI” prefix will become available later this year and DAERA has advised that livestock born from 1 January 2025 must be tagged with the new XI prefix. Therefore, in line with the changes notified by DAERA, Countryside Services advise that customers should order only what tags they can use in 2024. Countryside Services will let customers know when tags with the new “XI” prefix are approved and available. In the meantime, if you have questions about this change or have tags remaining at the end of 2024 purchased this year, you should contact the customer service team in Countryside Services.
Information from DAERA is available below:
https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/news/changes-livestock-identification-tag-codes
https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/26-february-2024-qas-changes-livestock-identification-tag-codes
