Urgent moves are under way in the Department of Agriculture to ensure that cattle farmers will have approved suppliers of tags from next Monday when the current supply contract ends.

A further two companies have now applied to the Department for approval to sell tags to farmers, bringing the total so far to three. The Department is examining these applications to see if they meet a list of requirements covering tag quality, security and quality of service.

On Wednesday, a Department of Agriculture source assured the Irish Farmers Journal that farmers would have an approved supplier or suppliers next week.

The names and contact details of approved suppliers will be published by the Department as soon as each is approved, it said in a statement.

The Department is no longer asking what prices these suppliers will charge for their tags. Under the outgoing system, companies competed in a price tender for three-year supply and the winning company had to adhere to its tendered price for all farmers. Under the new system, companies will be free to set and change their own prices as they see fit.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that a tag supply company or companies have asked the Department of Agriculture to ease its quality standards for tags. However, replying to a Dáil question from Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill this week, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said the standards of tag security for identification and traceability purposes remain “the same as heretofore”.