The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that no decision has yet been taken on bovine passports, commonly known as blue cards.

The department told Agriland that it is "currently considering the appropriate timing and approach for stakeholder consultation on the future of bovine passports".

Bovine passports are currently mandatory in Ireland for tracking individual cattle from birth to slaughter.

The documents are part of the department's animal identification and movement (AIM) system, which is aimed at ensuring traceability for food safety, animal welfare, and disease control.

The passport contains a unique identification number for the animal, date of birth and breed, along with a complete record of the animal's movements.

Passports must accompany animals during any movement, sale or export.

The department previously confirmed to Agriland that it was planning to engage with industry stakeholders to discuss the possible ending of the requirement for bovine passports.

This is in line with the government's digital strategy, which includes a reduction in the use of paper documents.

It followed the introduction of mandatory electronic identification (EID) of cattle from July 2022, following a consultation process with stakeholders.

This means that all bovines born on, or after, July 1, 2022 must be identified with two official identification tags, one of which contains an electronic component that can be scanned by a reader.

The department issued 2,079,506 new cattle passports up to the end of August this year.

This is down from 2,339,250 in the corresponding eight-month period in 2024.

DAFM also issued 40,250 replacement passports between January and August 2025, down from 60,203 in the same period last year.