Today (Monday 2 June), the much-anticipated government announcement took place, which outlines Defra’s plans to introduce changes to cattle identification, registration and reporting from Summer 2026. These new regulations have been shaped by the responses to the public consultation in late 2023.

This announcement confirmed that Bovine Electronic Identification (BEID) will be introduced for all newborn calves in England from a set date in 2027, using low frequency (LF) technology. Industry will then transition to a fully electronically identified cattle population over time, meaning there will be a period where non-BEID and BEID animals both exist in tandem in the national herd. During this time, animal movements will be able be reported using either EID reads, barcode scans from passports or visual reading of tags as it is currently done. As such, there is no need to retag the national herd.

On the back of this decision, once BEID has been rolled out and the new service in use, Defra will explore alongside the Devolved Governments how paper passports can be safely phased out of use without negative impact on traceability.

The announcement also confirmed the development of a new Livestock Information Service (LIS) for cattle which will replace the current Cattle Tracing Service (CTS). This will be launched in phases, starting with a private beta for a small number of selected cattle keepers in December 2025, and will gradually progress into a public beta in spring 2026. This phased approach will allow any issues to be resolved quickly and ensure a smoother transition for all users. The aim is to roll out the new LIS cattle service to all cattle keepers by summer 2026.

The new system is designed to be futureproof, ensuring it can accommodate changes from the bovine consultation and any future legislative updates. This flexibility allows the system and services to adapt seamlessly to new requirements, which will enable it to evolve into a multispecies traceability service in the future. Existing livestock traceability systems, including the Cattle Tracing Service (CTS), will remain in place until multispecies services across the devolved governments are fully operational.

You can read the formal announcement here: Electronic ID for Cattle mandatory in step forward for UK biosecurity – GOV.UK