Keeper Switch Over to ScotEID - Q and As

From the 4^th of October 2021, all cattle recording for cattle located in Scotland is captured on or to ScotEID. From this date, we are asking Scottish Cattle Keepers to use a new menu option on ScotEID called ‘ScotMoves+’ or to telephone ScotEID, to record births, deaths and movements for their cattle.

The current service provided by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) is no longer available to Scottish Keepers after this date. The system supported by the BCMS for cattle data capture, the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) will continue to be used by others for a period of time, until it is shutdown, for two purposes:

1. by English and Welsh keepers, until their replacement systems are available,
2. to provide a UK view of animal movement history, and to support data requirements to downstream systems, such as those of APHA for TB testing, for example.

To support item 2, ScotEID is sending the data captured from keepers, markets and abattoirs to the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) until the English and Welsh systems are available for direct data exchange between each of the new systems.

The current online method of cattle data recording is on CTSOnline. For Scottish cattle keepers, the functions available on CTSOnline will be available on ScotEID, under a new menu option called ‘ScotMoves+’, from the 4^th of October 2021.

Over the weekend prior to Monday, the 4^th of October, BCMS and ScotEID will make the necessary changes to their systems. 11,500 cattle keepers reporting to BCMS via CTSOnline or other methods, at this time, switch to the new system, ScotMoves+, on ScotEID.

Scottish cattle keepers are being asked to sign up to create a ScotEID account, if they don’t already have one. If you have an existing ScotEID account, you do not need to sign up again. This is the account to use.

A series of communications is planned from ScotEID, to assist Scottish cattle keepers in the transition from BCMS to ScotEID including information on how keepers will be able to register for ScotMoves+ in advance.

• With you, a Scottish cattle keeper, when you register calves, record private sales, or movements to and from shows or for bull hire, or when you record on-farm deaths to ScotEID, from the 4^th of October, 2021, online at ScotEID.com or by calling the ScotEID helpline.
• At the markets, when they record the movements of the cattle you present for sale or the animals you purchase from a sale. The markets will continue to record these moves on your behalf but now record directly to ScotEID.
• At the abattoirs, when they record the cattle you present for slaughter for processing. The abattoirs will continue to record the move from the farm on to the abattoir, and the death of the animal at the abattoir but now report directly to ScotEID.

The Cattle Tracing System (CTS) is the main computer system used by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) to support cattle identification, registration and movement in Great Britain. (Northern Ireland has its own system.) CTS, introduced in 1998, can no longer accommodate the modern day demands on a computer system, of its users, its stakeholders and the industry. CTS could be classified as a ‘legacy’ system, which is based on older technology and infrastructure, which cannot support the move to realtime processing or the introduction of cattle EID.

If you are reading a paper version or a pdf, an indexed digital version is available by scanning this QR code:

• The Switch Over
• Signing up to ScotEID
• ScotMoves+, the new menu option on ScotEID
• Ways to report
• Birth registrations
• Movements
• Movements reported by markets
• Cross border moves
• Deaths
• Movements and deaths reported by abattoirs
• Passports
• Imports
• Exports
• Agents
• Farm management software users
• Help and Guidance
• Your data on ScotEID
• Regulation / Policy
• The Differences
• Contacting ScotEID

Yes. From Monday, the 4^th of October, ScotEID becomes the only cattle recording system available to Scottish keepers. After this date, when keepers need to register calves, or record private sales, show moves, bull hire or on farm deaths, they must use ScotEID.

Yes. The Cattle Tracing System (CTS) managed by BCMS is reaching the end of its viable life. English keepers will be switching to a new system called the Livestock Information System (LIS) and Welsh keepers will switch to record their cattle data on EIDCymru. The new systems will exchange cross border movement information.

Yes. English and Welsh keepers are scheduled to switch over next year. The staggered approach reduces the impact on the British Cattle Movement Services (BCMS) in adapting to large scale change and on the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) to accommodate the technical aspects of the disaggregation from BCMS and CTS of each group of keepers.

No.

Yes. Your farm management software provider will amend their product to send data directly to ScotEID. There will be little or no impact on how you record your data. However, you will need to sign up for a ScotEID account. Please see Farm Management Software Users.

No, only where you report your cattle births, deaths and movements to, is changing. Cattle ear tags do not have to change. Moving all the cattle recording on to ScotEID is not related to EID tags.

ScotEID systems are built to accommodate the use of UHF electronic tags and electronic tag readers are already in place at most of the markets and installations are underway at the abattoirs. For more information, the latest report from the EID team is here.

The larger abattoirs switched over during June 2021 to feed the cattle data they capture directly to ScotEID.

The remaining abattoirs that use CTSOnline will switch on the 4^th of October 2021 at the same time as the keepers.

The markets are switching over during July / August, well ahead of the keeper Switch Over.

The data provided directly to ScotEID from the markets and abattoirs is sent from ScotEID to BCMS, to ensure that until the keeper Switch Over on the 4^th of October, all Scottish keepers can continue to view their data on CTSOnline until they switch to ScotEID.

Yes. Please see the section, Agents.

Yes, your cattle records must be recorded on ScotEID. You will need to register for ScotMoves+ and select the agent you wish to record your cattle records on your behalf.

No. Please use your existing ScotEID account.

Yes.

Please go to www.ScotEID.com and sign up by following the link ‘Register with ScotEID’ on the home page. Please keep a note of your username and a prompt for the password you have chosen, so you have it to hand for signing on. You can use your login to access ScotEID before and after the 4^th of October 2021.

Yes. Please contact ScotEID, who provide additional support for keepers that do not use the internet.

If you use additional holdings to your main holding, you must record when your cattle move between these holdings, referred to as ‘within business moves’, using the ScotMoves option in the left hand menu. This system replaced ‘the CTS links recording’ at BCMS at the start of 2017.

The BVD Eradication Scheme is managed by ScotEID on behalf of the Scottish Government. A ‘BVD Look Up’ is available to all cattle keepers to check the BVD status of your holding, other holdings and individual animals. Once signed in to ScotEID, you can see all the BVD test results for your holding, a list of the animals on the holding and their individual BVD status, and a list of animals that require BVD testing. All by using the BVD Look Up and BVD tests web pages on ScotEID.

SPECC, the Scotch Potential Eligibility Cattle Checker, checks the movement history of an animal and determines whether it is ‘Scotch Assured’. In addition, when signed on to ScotEID, a cattle keeper can see a list of the animals on their holding and the ‘Scotch Assured’ status of each animal. There is a SPECC app available which can be downloaded from here.

ScotMoves+.

Towards the end of August, a letter sent from ScotEID will contain a one time only use ‘pass code’. Using this and your main holding CPH you will be able to register online for the new system, ScotMoves+, using your existing ScotEID account, if you have one. If you don’t have an account, you can sign up for ScotEID account at any time using the link ‘register with ScotEID’ on the ScotEID home page. When you receive your ‘pass code’; signing on with your ScotEID account, you can then access the new system, ScotMoves+.

Yes. There are two systems, ScotMoves and now, the newly added ScotMoves+.

On the left hand menu on ScotEID.com.

Register a birth, record private sale moves, show moves or bull hire, or an on farm death from Monday the 4^th of October, 2021.

No. However, this is the way we would encourage, as this is the quickest and most accurate way of recording your data, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We appreciate for some, this is not viable or suitable. The alternative is a phone service where a ScotEID Information Assistant records your cattle births, movements and deaths for you, directly onto ScotEID whilst you are on the phone.

Yes. From the 4^th October, ScotEID will accept ScotMoves+ movements over the phone; these movements are for private sales, show moves, or bull hire.

No. However, the ScotEID Information Centre is considering extending the current opening hours.

Yes. You will be able to do either.

However, you must return the passport to ScotEID when you have used either of these options.

In the same way as you can do now for ScotMoves. You can leave a voicemail out of hours and we will phone you back the next working day and use the date of your voicemail as the notification date.

Yes. ScotEID scans all incoming mail and the on farm death will be recorded on your behalf.

Yes. New to ScotEID, from the 4^th of October, you have the option to appoint an independent agent. An agent reports your cattle records on your behalf on ScotEID. There would usually be a commercial agreement in place between you and the agent.

Yes. Please don’t share your username and password. Appoint an agent by selecting the agent on ScotEID or by calling ScotEID. You may also withdraw your permission at any time by deselecting the agent.

Yes.

Yes. You can register a birth online from the 4th October on ScotEID.com.

A new addition to the ScotMoves menu on ScotEID is ScotMoves+. This is where you will find ‘Record Birth’ under ScotMoves+ Births in the left hand menu.

Yes. You are asked to select an ear tag ID from a drop down list, select the date of birth from a pop up calendar, indicate the sex by selecting the male or female button and select the Dam, and Sire from drop down lists.

Yes. Each birth registration entered appears in a list below for checking prior to submitting. You can edit a birth registration entry on the list by selecting it and clicking the edit button.

The birth registrations appear in the ‘submitted and processed registrations’ at the bottom of the web page. You can choose to download this listing if required. However, the registered animals will appear immediately in your ScotMoves+ Birth records for your holding.

Yes. Please see the section on Passports.

When you hit ‘submit calf registrations’, and the birth registration record appears in the section 4. listing, your birth registration has been successful.

Yes. Passport Application Forms will be redirected from BCMS to ScotEID, if sent to BCMS in error after the Switch Over.

On receipt of the Passport Application Form, ScotEID will contact you by phone to register the calf.

ScotEID will not be issuing paper birth registration forms and have requested that the BCMS production of the passport application forms be suppressed for Scottish keepers. This is to ensure that all data captured is validated on entry to the system in realtime, either by the keeper or by ScotEID with the keeper, whilst on the phone, on the keeper’s behalf. Please see the section on The Differences for more information.

All cattle movements will be reported to ScotEID. The moves ‘external’ to your business, which are; private sale moves, moves to and from shows, and moves relating to the hire of bulls are reported to the new system, ScotMoves+. The moves that are ‘internal’, i.e. within business moves, must continue to be reported to ScotMoves, if you use additional holdings.

Please report the moves to ScotEID either online or by calling the ScotEID Helpline. Moves you have not reported prior to the 4th October must be reported to ScotEID.

Yes, please report the move to ScotEID.

No. However, all the cattle on your holding register and the moves recorded on CTS prior to the 4th October, will be shown on ScotEID.

• Departure Date
  • date they left the farm - selected from a pop up calendar
• Destination CPH
  • where the animals were going to - start to enter the CPH then a dropdown of valid CPHs appears to select from.
• List of animal IDs
  • you can select from the displayed list of animals on your holding or type the last 3 or 4 digits and the animals that match the digit search will appear in the dropdown box for you to select.

We ask you to please check the animals you have selected. When you’re happy with the list, please click ‘submit’.

And that’s it. The moves are recorded. This happens immediately. The animals will no longer show on the animal listing for your holding. You can see they have been on the holding by ticking the ‘Show historic cattle’ box and animals that used to be on the holding will appear on the listing on grey coloured rows.

Yes. If the seller has already recorded the moves off their farm, then the animal IDs are presented on ScotEID for you to confirm the IDs and the departure CPH and record the arrival date.

Yes. You can view an animal’s details and its full movement history unless it has been imported.

Please contact ScotEID and we will work on your behalf to determine what needs to be corrected by contacting the other keepers, or the markets, where necessary.

This also applies when the error in the movement history is prior to the Switch Over date of 4^th of October 2021.

Yes. From the farm to the market. From the market to the farm. Referred to as a 4-way move because when it is split into OFF and ON moves for CTS processing it represents 4 moves; OFF farm A, ON the market, OFF the market, ON farm B.

Yes. Animals moving on to the farm will appear on your holding immediately the market reports the move off the market to your farm. Animals leaving the farm, will no longer show on your holding but there is an option to show historic animals.

Yes. For Scottish keepers this is the case. For English keepers selling to or buying from Scottish marts this is the case too. However some English keepers ask the markets not to report moves on their behalf.

Yes. Markets and abattoirs will be able to view the data they send to ScotEID and make amendments directly on ScotEID.

Yes. The larger abattoirs are already reporting their data directly to ScotEID and the smaller abattoirs will switch over to report to ScotEID along with the keepers on the 4^th of October.

Yes. As soon as the move off your holding on to the abattoir is reported the animals will only appear as historic. The moves will appear in your OFF moves listing and viewing the history of the animal will show the move and the death when that has been recorded.

No, the abattoir reports the death on the abattoir premises. It is correct however that an animal, once on an abattoir, cannot leave the abattoir, i.e. be moved off, except by special licence from the Scottish Government.

The abattoir cannot kill and process the animal without the correct passport. Food Standards Scotland(FSS) and the abattoir may agree to hold the animal until its passport can be presented. However this is up to the abattoir. Without a passport, the animal will be slaughtered and treated as ‘fallen stock’. It cannot be processed by the abattoir and enter the food chain. It cannot leave the abattoir alive.

In exceptional circumstances, ScotEID is able to issue an emergency passport.

For a private sale, show or hire move, the Scottish keeper on ScotEID notifies the move from their holding to the holding in England. For a market sale at a Scottish market, the market would record the move off the market to the English holding and send the data to ScotEID.

The keeper at the destination holding in Scotland is asked to notify ScotEID by recording the departure holding the animals have come from when recording the animals moving on to their holding.

When English keepers are using the new Livestock Information System (LIS) cross border moves, along with the full movement history, of the animal will be exchanged between ScotEID and LIS using a web service. The same will apply between ScotEID and EID Cymru for animals moving between Scotland and Wales.

After Switch Over the keeper must register with ScotEID for cattle records including births, deaths and movements for his holding in Scotland. For a holding in England, the keeper continues to use BCMS and record their cattle records on CTS.

No, a keeper cannot consider English holdings to be an additional holdings and record the moves as internal moves on ScotMoves. They must be recorded as external moves, i.e. business to business moves. These are treated as cross border moves by the systems.

To ensure the death is notified on time, we would encourage reporting online on ScotEID or by calling the Helpline. You must then return the passport to ScotEID.

Yes. You can do this. Every passport arriving at ScotEID is scanned. They are then actioned by ScotEID if required. However, if the on-farm death has already been recorded, the incoming passport is automatically processed which is more efficient and saves costs.

Yes. This prompts the knackery to take a sample for BSE and send for testing. Checks are carried out to ensure this sampling and testing is done for that animal that died on your holding. In Scotland, parts of the Highland and Islands are exempt from the sampling. For information please go to the gov.scot website here.

Yes. There is a web page which shows a list of all the animals that have died on the farm. When you record the on-farm death, you have an option of recording a reference with the death, like a note, that could, for example, be used to note how the animal died or why it had to be shot, anything you would like, that shows against the death on your listing.

The passport is issued by the Scottish Government. From the birth registration details you have provided to ScotEID, the passport details are sent for print and distribution to a company in Edinburgh.

We have taken the opportunity to make the information on the cover letter clearer and the data on the passport more visible by removing some of the text. However, the data items themselves have not changed or moved. All are in an identical position to the BCMS passport for those that scan the passports for processing and we have added a QR code of the animal ID in the centre at the top of the passport for easier scanning with a mobile phone.

Yes, both are still required.

No. All existing passports remain valid. However if you need to amend a passport or request a replacement then the passport issued will be the Scottish passport with the next appropriate version number for the passport for that animal.

From the 4^th October, please send the passport into ScotEID with the amendment clearly marked on the passport.

Yes. There is a charge of £20 to replace a passport.

If you let us know within six weeks of when the passport was issued, the passport is replaced free of charge.

Yes. Please contact the Helpline to order bar code labels before you run out. These are provided free of charge.

You can continue to use the bar code labels you have received from BCMS after the 4^th October.

ScotEID. Please send the details, including the Health Certificate, the list of animals and the original passports to ScotEID. We will process the import registrations and issue new passports. Before they arrive in the UK, please remember to pre-notify the arrival of the animals on the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System, IPAFFS, as you do currently. This has not changed.

Yes. More information on exporting cattle and what you need to do, can be found on the Scottish Government website here.

An agent is someone you appoint to enter your cattle records on your behalf on ScotEID. There is usually a commercial agreement in place between you and the agent to support this arrangement.

Agents must report your cattle records by using the ScotEID website. Only online reporting is available for agents.

Yes. You can do this on ScotEID by selecting the agent you wish to appoint or by calling ScotEID. This must be done by you. An agent cannot appoint themselves to represent you.

Yes.

On ScotEID, you can deselect the agent you have appointed or call ScotEID who will do this for you.

Yes. On ScotEID, we record who has submitted the cattle records.

Yes. A web service is available for farm management software providers to send the cattle records you enter using their product to ScotEID. Please make sure you keep your software up to date and look out for any notices from your software provider. If you are unsure what is happening, please don’t hesitate to contact ScotEID.

Yes. After the 4^th of October, all electronic or manual requests for Scottish cattle data must come to ScotEID. This means that the app you use will need to be updated to get your cattle data from ScotEID via the web service provided.

Yes. Help is available to all who use ScotEID or call in to report their cattle records.

Yes. ScotEID provides step by step instructions supporting each data entry on each web page of the reporting functions, e.g. Record Birth. If you require assistance, this is available during office hours, please phone ScotEID and they will run through the reporting with you and assist with steps you are unsure of.

An updated version of the Cattle Keepers Handbook will be available online. Additional resources on all aspects of cattle data recording are available on the gov.scot website.

No. Existing cattle regulations can be found here on the gov.scot website.

ScotEID uses the services of Microsoft Azure to host the servers required for ScotEID.

Only you, or an agent you have appointed, or the ScotEID help team on your instruction can add or amend records on your ScotEID account.

Yes. If there is a correction required or a difference in dates to be investigated it is clear who recorded the data.

Yes. Separate from ScotEID we have a call logging system where we make a note of the fact that you have called and a brief note of the reason for the call. Calls are not recorded. These notes are only used by ScotEID to assist when you next get in touch so your call can be addressed as efficiently as possible by any member of the team.

No. Not without your permission. The note that is taken, is our interpretation of the call. It is, solely, to assist in providing help and support and cannot be used outside of ScotEID.

We are putting in place an option that will show your ‘requests to ScotEID’ that you have requested. This will confirm that we have received your request. As ScotEID progresses with your request, you will see the actions they are taking and the status of the request. This will be available in 2022.

As you enter the data online or a member of the Help team enters the data on your behalf, each piece of data is subject to a number of ‘validations’. These are like rules or checks the data must pass before it is accepted. ‘Real time’ means these checks are done as the data is entered e.g. that a date is a valid date.

When a record is in a check list ready for submitting, whether it be a birth, or a move, it has already been validated as you entered the data. This means that when you submit your birth registrations, movements or deaths, they are accepted and shown on ScotEID immediately. You do not have to wait for the data to be processed overnight to find out if it has processed successfully.

In line with the records in your farm register, ScotEID is asking where your animals are going to when you move them off your holding. This is referred to as the destination CPH. When animals arrive at your holding, we ask you where the animals have come from. This is referred to as the departure CPH.

• This is information you must enter in your on-farm register - it’s not new,
• One step closer to being able to opt for ScotEID to be your herd register,
• It means that ScotEID does not need to reconcile separately recorded OFF and ON moves.

A vector move is also known as a ‘double-sided move’ or a ‘move from A to B’. ScotEID will ask you to notify the destination CPH (County Parish Holding) for animals leaving your holding, i.e. where they are going to. When an animal joins the herd you are asked to notify the CPH for the farm it has come from.

It means that for your data at ScotEID;

• we don’t have to match off moves with on moves, i.e. no reconciliation processing
• we don’t have animals recorded as moving off with no ‘on’ move reported and appear to be homeless
• we don’t have animals moving on and we can’t determine where they have come from, if there is no off move
• it ensures that the data on ScotEID can provide a location and movement history for each animal in Scotland.

The ‘+’ represents what we’re adding to ScotEID for cattle recording;

• Registering births
• Market moves, private sales, show moves, bull hire, moves to abattoirs
• Recording deaths.

The 2 day reporting period for ScotMoves allows for ‘within business moves’ on ScotMoves to represent your herd register, so these moves do not have to be noted in your on-farm herd register. In the near future it is hoped that ScotEID will represent the on-farm register, including the new ScotMoves+ and keepers will be able to opt to use ScotEID as their herd register. The Policy Team at Scottish Government is working on the possible alignment of the reporting periods.