Livestock Information Transformation Programme (LITP)

The Livestock Information Transformation Programme is a Defra change programme set up to lead the transformation of livestock traceability in England, to improve the resilience of the industry against the impact of disease.

The programme is a partnership between government and industry to replace existing, species-specific traceability systems across England with a new multispecies system and to drive greater electronic identification (eID) of livestock to create the capability for real-time reporting of movements.

This will:

• Offer more data-capture capabilities
• Enable faster, better-informed decisions on controlling disease outbreaks
• Provide data to help improve animal health and welfare
• Give further assurances on food safety
• Support productivity
• Facilitate trade

We are involved in LITP as part of the Traceability Design User Group (TDUG) to ensure the industry’s current and future needs are factored into how the system is being designed.

We concentrate on the wider benefits to industry that the system can unlock by providing access to traceability data, e.g. supporting international trade, controlling the spread of disease, underpinning the reputation of our livestock sectors, accelerating genetic improvement – issues aligned with the priorities identified by levy payers in our Shape the future industry consultation.

During 2022, LIS replaced Animal Reporting and Movement Service (ARAMS – the previous traceability system for sheep, goats and deer) and launched the new Livestock Unique Identification Service (LUIS) system for use by approved tag manufacturers and suppliers when ordering tag numbers for farmers.

In 2023, an enhanced facility to exchange sheep traceability data across England, Scotland and Wales was integrated with the new service called UK View.

This will better enable Chief Veterinary Officers to know the location and movements of livestock across borders.

Livestock Information also provided the facility for a registered farm vet to digitally record a vet attestation for sheep keepers, enabling an abattoir user to view that attestation before export to the EU.

Our traceability system for pigs (eAML2) is already fully digitalised, so we can readily incorporate a cost-effective solution to enable pig levy payers to meet vet attestation requirements.

The current focus of LITP is to deliver the Livestock Information Service (LIS) for cattle, which will replace cattle movement services for England currently reported through the Cattle Tracing System (CTS).

The roll-out of the new cattle service will be in phases, starting with a small number of selected cattle keepers in December 2025.

This phased approach will allow any issues to be resolved quickly and ensure a smoother transition for all users.

The aim is to roll out the new LIS cattle service to all cattle keepers by summer 2026.

The launch of the new cattle service will soon be followed by the introduction of bovine electronic identification (BEID) in 2027.

BEID can bring greater speed, accuracy and assurance in the reporting of movements.

This, alongside the digital record for every animal, will eventually allow for a move away from using paper passports to online digital records.

AHDB will continue to run the pig service (eAML2) until it transitions to the Livestock Information Service and after the cattle transition has been completed.