Section 01 – General Rules

Methods of identification

Rules on animal identification

1. The recorded animal identity should be the animal's official identity in the member country and should be unique to that animal.
2. Where the identity of an individual animal is not unique, the record must so state (e.g. flock or herd identities for sheep/goats). The identity number used for a flock or herd must be unique to that flock or herd.
3. The animal’s identity should be visible to the naked eye, or if not visible (such as an electronic or Radio Frequency Identity (RFID)) should be cross-referenced to a visible or human readable identity.
4. The animal’s identity must remain unique and never be re-used.
5. The animal’s identification device/method, must comply with the local or legislative requirements of the country concerned.
6. Animals, which lose their identity device or whose identity device becomes disfunctional, must be re-identified wherever possible, with their original number, provided there is evidence that the animal is being correctly identified. Where it is not possible to re-apply the original identity, a cross reference to the original number must be maintained).

Methods of animal identification

1. The animal’s identity number may be attached to or implanted in the animal by a tag, tattoo, brand or electronic device. The animal’s identify may be supplemented with a sketch or photo.
2. Animals moving from one country to another should wherever possible, continue to be identified using the identity (and name where applicable) from the country of origin, providing that identity remains compliant with legislation in the importing country.
3. In the case of imported animals, where local or national legislation of the importing country requires the original identity to be changed or replaced, the official records should also hold the original identity and name. The original identity and name should also be quoted in addition to the replacement identity in Export Certificates and also in AI Catalogues or catalogues of important international shows and sales.

Record of identification methods

1. The member organisation must maintain a record of the identification methods used in the countries in which it operates.
2. The member organisation must determine, within the constraints of local or national legislation within the country or countries in which it operates, the identification methods used on recorded animals and herds or flocks.

Standards for animal identities

1. Specific guidelines for use in data exchange for genetic evaluation (Interbull or International Identity) and on printed documents, electronic documents, web pages or any other places where genetic evaluation results may be provided are defined in Section 9.
2. Details of standards for Electronic Identification Devices can be found in Section 10.
3. Details of the supported standards of animal identification used in electronic exchange of livestock data, particularly between local, on-farm devices and computers, can be found in Section 15.

Parentage recording methods

Recording of parentage information

1. The identity of the animal served and the service sire must be recorded on the farm on the day of the service.
2. The insemination records issued by the AI Organisation (or the records kept by the DIY AI user) must include the date, the official identity and if available the name of the served animal and the identity and name of the service sire.
3. The recording organisation should record the service information, as soon as possible after the animal has been served, and seek solutions to time delays.
4. The sex and identity of the progeny should be recorded on the day of birth and notified to the responsible organisation no later than the first recording visit after their occurrence.
5. In the case of embryo transfer the records must show the genetic dam and the recipient dam as well as the service sire.

Verification of parentage

The following checks must be carried out before a parentage record can be considered official.

1. That the served animal is properly identified.
2. That the service sire is properly identified.
3. That the Date of Birth is within ±6% of the average gestation length for the recorded service date for the breed of service sire.
4. That the progeny of the served animal is properly identified.
5. That the service sire is verified either by an AI record or by evidence that the service sire was on farm on the day of service, or by a declaration by a Veterinary Surgeon (e.g. in the case of Embryo transfer).

Supervision of parentage

Scope

The present guideline aims to provide guidelines for the relevant matters which must be undertaken to enable an organisation to use genomic data for parentage verification.

Blood typing

The use of blood typing for determining parentage verification may still be used nationally, but it is not recommended when exchanging parentage data. As there are no comparable ring tests between laboratories we therefore cannot assume consistency of results. When in doubt of any parentage, a DNA-test should be done. If no material is available from both parents, the animal should be excluded/not allowed for semen production or embryo production

Microsatellite or SNP parentage analysis

Following advances in molecular biology described in Section 4 of these Guidelines, further information to enable organisations to utilise SNP parentage analysis is required.

Genomic parentage verification may be completed using microsatellites or SNPs. To absolutely verify the parentage, both parent's DNA is required, however verification of only the Dam may be acceptable if sire genetics are unavailable.

Historically, many animals' DNA has been analysed using microsatellites, but increasingly animals are being genotyped on SNP chips. SNP chips may range in size from those that solely contain parentage SNPs to the high density chips used for genomic evaluation. The important thing is that they must contain the ICAR recognised parentage SNPs and that the analysis is completed at an ICAR accredited laboratory. This standard ensures that the parentage SNPs are exchangeable between organisations. If an animal has been genotyped for genomic evaluation using a chip which has these SNPs, it should be possible to request the parentage SNPs.

The transition from the microsatellite to the SNP method of parentage verification is problematical. Parentage microsatellites can be imputed from additional high density SNPs specifically chosen for that purpose and available on some SNP chips. Using higher density SNP chips gives the organization more information about the animal; it can aid sire identification, help identify the maternal grandsire, be used for genomic evaluation and can be used to check for genetic disease and traits. Alternatively organisations may decide to request the 120 parentage SNP and microsatellite genotypes.

A list of ICAR accredited labs, for either microsatellite or SNP parentage verification, is available here on the ICAR website. The laboratory accreditation process is explained in full in Section 4 of the ICAR Guidelines.