From November 2016, as part of an EU wide change, Ireland have changed it’s tag numbering system. These changes now make Irish tag numbers compatible with the Electronic Identification (EID) system. The changes are as follows:
1. Each herd will receive a completely new designator.
2. The letters IE will be replaced by Ireland’s numeric country code 372.
3. The 2 digit county code will instead range from 21-23, which will simply represent bovine herds.
The rest of the tag numbering system (check digit followed by 4 digits)will remain the same.
Example Tag: 372215432120456
Each herd’s old IE designator will remain valid until the end of December 2017 to register the remaining IE format tags already out on farm
The herd number (e.g. Y1234567) for each herd will remain the same.
Please Note: Only calves with tags beginning with 372 can be registered using the new animal events book. Calves with tags beginning with IE should be registered using the old book or online.