Cattle and buffalo Register

The cattle and buffalo Register consists of a census of all the farms, housing barns, genetic centres, collecting centres, markets and pastures in Italian territory and all the cattle held in them or in transit there.

Each of these establishments is assigned a unique holding code by the competent veterinary service for the territory, which also allocates the individual identifying codes which must be shown on the tags attached to both of the animal's ears.

Each animal thus identified is provided with a "Passport" containing its main identifying particulars (date of birth, sex, breed, dam's code etc.), which accompanies it on every movement, from the rearing unit where it is first identified, right through to the abattoir.

The back of the document lists all the movements between holdings which the animal makes during its life, thus ensuring its complete traceability.

It is the duty of each keeper to maintain, for each holding, a proper up-to-date herd register in which to record all the movements which occur on the holding (births and purchases of cattle, sales and deaths on the holding). The same information must also be recorded, within 7 days of the specific event, in the NDB. This task, which is the exclusive responsibility of the rearer, can be performed directly by the keeper or can be delegated to the Agricultural Assistance Centres, the Italian Livestock Rearers' Association (AIA) or the competent Veterinary Service.

The computerized system created by the National Services Centre at the Istituto G. Caporale of Teramo requires that in order to be authorized to update the DataBase, each operator must be authenticated by means of an electronic certificate. The identification and registration system for cattle and buffalo has its natural complement in the event of slaughter, which is notified to the NDB by the abattoir manager.

Each event recorded in the National DataBase is verified in real time through suitable transactions made over the internet, or through applications linking independent computer systems with those Regions which have decided to equip themselves with a Regional DataBase of their own.

The NDB's computerized system was certified by the European Commission as fully operative from 1 April 2006