The British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) is the organisation responsible for maintaining a database of all bovine animals in the United Kingdom, except for Northern Ireland, which has a separate database maintained by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. It was established in the wake of the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis in the UK, and is part of the Rural Payments Agency. Other member states of the European Union have similar cattle tracing systems.
Every bovine animal in the United Kingdom (as elsewhere in the European Union) has a unique number, shown both on an ear tag in each ear and on a paper cattle passport which is held by the current keeper of the animal (the system covers both cattle and other bovine animals such as water buffalo and bison). The number and passport remain with the animal throughout its life, and is recorded by the slaughterhouse at its death, allowing traceability of the beef. The BCMS central database is called the Cattle Tracing System, and works alongside the physical passport to record the births, deaths and movements of all cattle.
Read more about British Cattle Movement Service: Cattle Tracing System, Cattle Passport, Ear Tag Number
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