Guidance

Sheep and goat electronic identification (EID) technical standards

Published 3 August 2021

1. Introduction

Regulation (EC) 21/2004 sets out the requirements for Electronic Identification (EID) equipment accreditation and approval. This paper sets out an outline process for the testing and approval of EID equipment, to meet these requirements. It also sets out an outline of the roles and responsibilities for this approval work. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will act on behalf of the GB Competent Authority (Defra and devolved administrations of Scotland and Wales) for this process. In Northern Ireland, this is the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

2. Background

The legislation/regulation for EID testing and approval are:

• Regulation (EC) 21/2004 as amended by Council Regulations 1791/2002, 1560/2007 and 933/2008
• EID Technical guidelines
• Commission Decision (2010/280/EU) of 12 May 2010, amending Commission Decision 2006/968
• International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 11784 & 11785
• Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 66
• ISO 24631 ( ISO 17025

2.1 Transponders

ISO 24631: Radio Frequency of Animals - confirms the formal agreement between ISO and International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR) for the appointment of ICAR as Registration Authority (RA). It sets out procedures for testing transceivers and transponders against ISO 11784/5. It also covers how to apply for a manufacturer code and sets out standards for representation of the animal identification information (for example visual display and data transfer).

Commission decision (2010/280/EU) of 12 May 2010, amending Commission Decision 2006/968 also allows for the Competent Authority to apply other performance criteria for identifiers.

Regulation (EC) 933/2008 allows for the use of pastern marks and injectable transponders as identification devices. However, the EID Technical guidelines only reference electronic ear tags, boluses and injectable transponders, ruling out injectables until specific problems have been resolved. The guidelines will be revised to take account of this change to the Regulation. The Sheep EID Co-ordination Board agrees that pasterns (electronic and conventional) are acceptable identification in the UK, but injectables are not.

2.2 Readers

There is no regulatory requirement for readers to have specific approval from a Competent Authority. However, the UK will include a requirement in legislation for readers to be approved. The tests provided for in Chapter III of Commission Decision 2006/968 also apply. Readers should also meet all the required non-EID standard testing and approvals, for example CE testing procedures, before being submitted for the EID certification process. The standards in Part 6 of ISO 24631, relating to the display format, should also be met.

3. Processes

Chapter II of Commission Decision (2010/280/EU) of 12 May 2010, amending Commission Decision 2006/968 sets out the requirements for transponders and Chapter III sets out the requirements for readers. These are set out in more detail below.

3.1 ICAR approval

3.1.1 Transponders

Suppliers must provide certification which confirms compliance with ISO standards 11784 and 11785 according to the method specified in point 7 of ISO 24631-1.This must show achievement of minimum performance on reading distances, as laid down in point 2, in accordance with the procedures specified in point 7 of ISO 24631-3. Testing can be carried out by any laboratory which meets the appropriate ISO standards (17025). Full ICAR testing and provision of product/manufacturer code is optional. However, if the transponder is intended for sale elsewhere than in the UK, it is likely that full ICAR testing will be required. The supplier should check with the appropriate CA.

If testing is carried out by an ICAR-approved laboratory, this gives the manufacturer/supplier the option of using the transponder with either a country code or product/manufacturer code.

3.1.2 Readers

Competent Authorities may impose specific performance criteria on readers if necessary for local geographic, climatic and/or management conditions. The certification needed for the UK is set out in paragraph 3.2.2 below.

3.2 EID approval

3.2.1 Transponders

Competent Authorities may also require additional tests in accordance with Part 2 of the EU Technical Guidelines. The UK requires all transponders approved for use in the UK to meet the additional tests for robustness and endurance in Part 2 of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) Technical Guidelines. The JRC meets ISO standard (17025) and is the UK test laboratory for EID testing.

3.2.2 Readers

The UK requires readers to meet the additional requirements laid out in Part 2 of the Technical Guidelines (paragraph 3.6). Only readers with certification proving they meet these requirements will be listed on the RPA website.

Readers must also meet the requirements for reader display format set out under draft ISO 24631-6. This means they will already meet the requirements and will not need to

be retested in the future. This only applies to readers used for official EID use, not those used only for farm management use. It is up to the individual keeper or organisation whether they submit their equipment for voluntary testing.

3.3 PAS 66 approval

This stage relates specifically to UK approval of ear tags and can be carried out either before or after the EID testing regime. As well as EID approval, conventional and EID ear tags also need to be tested under PAS 66 before they can be approved for use in the UK. PAS 66 has been updated to include a simple read test for EID tags to make sure the PAS 66 requirements do not affect the electronic elements of these tags.

3.4 Final UK approval

The final step is to receive UK approval. For GB, this will involve submission of the relevant certification to RPA Workington, who will then publish the information on the approved list of UK EID equipment on GOV.UK. In Northern Ireland, DAERA will publish the Northern Ireland list of approved equipment on their website.

The full list of approvals required for EID accreditation are summarised as:

• ICAR approval (testing to confirm compliance with relevant ISO/ICAR provisions)
• EID approval (testing to confirm compliance with Part 2 of the Technical Guidelines)
• PAS 66 approval (for ear tags only)
• Final UK approval (publication of equipment details on website)

These approvals can be split into specific requirements, as set out below:

• Identifiers

  • Meeting ISO 11784/11785 in accordance with point 7 of ISO 24631-1
  • Achievement of minimum performance on reading distances, as laid down in point 2 of Commission Decision (2010/280/EU) of 12 May 2010, amending Commission Decision 2006/968, in accordance with the procedures specified in point 7 of ISO 24631-3
  • Part 2 of the EID Technical Guidelines relating to robustness and endurance of identifiers
  • PAS 66 (ear tags only)

• Reading equipment

  • Tests, as defined in Part 2 (paragraph 3.6) of the EID Technical Guidelines
  • Compliance with ISO 24631-6

4. Roles & Responsibilities

A summary of the main areas of responsibilities can be found in the EID Technical Guidelines. For UK purposes, this involves:

• Defra – responsible for drawing up the approvals policy
• Manufacturers – designing and submitting equipment for approval
• ICAR-approved laboratory – testing to ISO 11784/5 criteria and issue of manufacturer/product codes under ISO 24631
• ISO 17025 accredited laboratory– testing to ISO 11784/5 criteria and EID criteria
• BSI (or other laboratory able to carry out PAS66 testing) – PAS66 testing and approval
• RPA – granting UK approval and maintaining the UK list of approved equipment
• DAERA – granting Northern Ireland approval and maintaining the NI list of approved equipment

RPA/DAERA are not responsible for the development of process. This has been agreed by the UK EID Project Board. Certification of EID equipment is carried out by an approved reference laboratory, overseen by a National Reference Laboratory (NRL)/Central Reference Laboratory (CRL) (the JRC currently undertake the CRL role). On production of appropriate certification, RPA/DAERA keep a list of approvals to EU, ISO/ICAR and UK standards, along with conventional tags. The PAS 66 standard continues to apply and there are no changes to the existing roles of RPA/DAERA.

5. Conclusion

The UK adopted the simplest approach to authorisation for sale in the UK of EID devices and reading equipment as possible.

To obtain authorisation in the UK, a supplier needs to submit the appropriate documentation and provide evidence that the EU standards have been met. This process is identical to that of conventional eartags and ETAS. RPA act as Defra’s delivery agent for authorisation of sheep identification electronic devices and reading equipment.