It could be well into 2015 before legislation is introduced in NI that will make it compulsory to tissue-tag all newborn calves for bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD), and an offence to move a persistently infected (PI) animal off the farm other than for disposal or slaughter.

When a voluntary scheme was launched in NI in early 2013 by Animal Health and Welfare NI (AHWNI), an industry-led body chaired by former Ulster Farmers’ Union president John Thompson, it was expected that the scheme would be made compulsory in 2014.

By early December 2013, Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill announced that DARD was going to introduce the appropriate legislation.

However, that legislation is yet to materialise, with DARD insisting that AHWNI must prove that it has an appropriate database in place to handle all the required information and funding secured for the next three years, before it will press ahead with the legislative process.