Northern Ireland’s computerised cattle movement and permitting system, APHIS, seemed to ‘crash’ last night as part of a wider civil service IT malfunction.
The end result is that Northern Ireland’s movement permit system is not currently operating.
Queues of farmers with cattle to be slaughtered had been forming at some meat plants since earlier this morning (Monday, August 21).
A representative from the north’s meat industry confirmed to Agriland that cattle held in lairages overnight had been slaughtered first thing this morning on welfare grounds.
Vets will check through the paperwork on these animals as soon as APHIS comes back online.
The plants have been in touch with farmers scheduled to deliver cattle today, advising them not to take cattle in for slaughter.
However, some farmers had not been contacted in time. Those who managed to get their cattle through the gates of the plants have been allowed to offload their animals; they will be placed in lairage and slaughtered as a matter of priority.
Those who were left queuing outside the gates of premises were advised of developments and asked to take their cattle back home.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has confirmed that the APHIS crash is part of a larger IT malfunction within Northern Ireland’s entire public service.
It is not known when APHIS will come back online. The union said it is enquiring into this issue as a matter of priority.
APHIS
Using APHIS online, farmers can:
- Register cattle births, deaths and stillborns;
- Produce movement notification of cattle moving off the herd to market, abattoir or farm;
- Confirm cattle movements into a herd;
- Use APHIS as the herd book
- View and download a herd list including information about animals DAERA statuses, TB and Br test results and export eligibility;
- View movement and progeny history of every animal in a herd;
- View post- and ante-mortem details of slaughtered animals;
- Produce a report to count and classify animals in accordance with the Nitrate Action Programme.
