The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) Dairy Committee is calling for bovine passports, commonly known as blue cards, to be digitised.

The committee believes that the use of electronic identification (EID) tags and the strong uptake in genotyping has made the provision of physical animal registration cards "largely redundant".

According to the committee, it costs the State €3.8 million to issue and post cards for around 2.38 million registrations.

"In many cases, the breed classification on the registration card does not reflect the genetics of the animal which can undermine its true economic value.

"Also, delays in postage and administration errors associated with the presentation of card can delay the sale of eligible animals," the committee added.

Passports

Chair of the IFA Dairy Committee, Martin McElearney said the committee is currently seeking support for the proposal from IFA county executives.

It is understood that several counties have already backed the move.

“The potential benefits of doing this would be the sale of animals without the provision of blue cards, so once you get your BVD or whatever back, your calf can be sold," he said.

He added that digitisation would mitigate against postage delays and errors on cards which he said is costing farmers money.

Under the proposal, the digital version of the card would still be available for exports.

McElearney pointed to the "amount of resources that are tied up with reconciling cards", whether that be in mart offices, vet clinics or for department inspections.

"The money spent on issuing blue cards surely could be converted to somewhere else in the department of agriculture, possibly back down to the farmer on the ground," he said.

The IFA Dairy Committee chair noted that the transfer of blue cards is "not a receipt of sale for farm-to-farm sales" of animals.

"Regardless of the card, animal movements still need to be recorded with AIM (the department's animal identification and movement system).

"The provision of the card at a mart doesn't guarantee that the animal will be sold, for whatever reason, whether you didn't get enough money, or whether the animal is out of TB test," he added.

Consultation

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has told Agriland that no decision has yet been made on the future of bovine passports.

Currently, it is mandatory for every bovine in the country to have a physical passport document.

In 2023, the department said it was considering what role, if any, cattle passports will play in the future of the traceability system.

It followed the introduction of mandatory EID tags in cattle from July 2022.

Such a move would also align with the government's digital strategy, which includes a reduction in the use of paper documents.

A DAFM spokesperson said that the department is "currently considering the appropriate timing and approach for stakeholder consultation on the future of bovine passports".