From today (Monday, June 30), only XI prefixed tags can be used to identify newborn cattle, sheep, and goats in Northern Ireland.
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said: “The 12-month transitional period to allow livestock keepers time to use up stocks of ‘UK’ prefixed livestock tags has now ended.
“This means that from today only ‘XI’ prefixed tags should be used to identify newborn livestock.
“Any unused stocks of ‘UK’ tags are now obsolete and should be destroyed to avoid keepers inadvertently applying them to their animals.”
XI tags
Animals identified in Northern Ireland with ‘UK’ tags prior to June 30, 2025, which are remaining within the UK, do not need to be re-identified with ‘XI’ tags.
All sheep and goats being exported to the Republic of Ireland must be identified with ‘XI’ tags prior to their export, including any previously identified with ‘UK’ tags, with the re-identification being recorded in the flock register.
However, there is no need to re-identify cattle being exported to the Republic of Ireland if they were identified with ‘UK’ tags prior to June 30, 2025, according to DAERA.
All livestock moving to continental Europe must be identified with ‘XI’ tags prior to their export.
Any such animals previously tagged with ‘UK’ tags must be re-identified with ‘XI’ tags. For cattle, this must be done under veterinary supervision.
‘XI’ prefixed tags have been available to purchase from tag suppliers since June 24, 2024. However, DAERA facilitated an additional transitional period for livestock keepers to use up stocks of ‘UK’ tags, which ended at midnight on June 29, 2025.
The use of ‘XI’ prefixed livestock tags, which is a legal requirement under EU Animal Health Law, ensures continued unfettered access (subject to normal export eligibility requirements) to both EU and UK internal markets for our livestock and agri-food products, according to the department.
Since June 24, 2024, all new cattle tags issued in NI begin with ‘XI 0’, replacing ‘UK 9’. This will allow the whole tag number to be encoded on electronic identification devices in future.
Also, all new sheep and goat tags issued in NI begin with XI 17 replacing ‘UK 17’.
