§ Mr. Beithasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will encourage the use of collars as an alternative to ear-tagging as a means of affixing identification numbers to cattle.
§ Mr. StrangArticle 16(1) of the Tuberculosis Order 1964 requires all cattle to be permanently marked in an approved manner from the age of 14 days. This is to facilitate the identification and tracing of cattle for disease-control purposes. Some types of ear tag have been approved under this article, but not collars, since they do not constitute a sufficiently reliable method of marking. My Department does, however, recommend the use of collars in appropriate cases for herd management purposes.