Identification of kept animals is regulated by Animal Health Law (EU) 2016/429. For certain animal species for which it is important to be able to trace individual animals or groups, a physical means of identification is required. This entails the animal in question being physically marked, tagged, microchipped or otherwise identified by means of a method which can be seen or detected on or in its body and which cannot easily be removed.
The means of identification for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, camels, cervids and horses must be approved by the authority of the Member State where the animals are identified. For parrots, the microchip must be approved by the Member State where the animals are identified if the parrots are transferred to another Member state. Microchips for dogs, cats and ferrets do not need to be specifically approved by the authority, as the requirements are stipulated in Regulation (EU) No. 576/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council. More information can be found on the website of the Finnish Food Authority.
The means of identification approved by Finnish Food Authority can be found via the menu at the left side of the page.
Approval of new means of identification is applied for with a free-form application. The application must state the applicant's information, the animal species for which approval is sought, the fulfillment of the technical requirements and, in the case of electronic identifiers, also the required tests in accordance with the methods of ISO standards.
The technical requirements and the required tests mentioned above are described in Annex I of the Commission's Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/963 for horses and in Annex II of the Commission's Implementing Regulation (EU) 520/2021 for other animal species.
The application should be sent to the address: Animal Welfare and Identification Unit, Finnish Food Authority, P.O. BOX 200, 00027 FINNISH FOOD AUTHORITY or kirjaamo(at)foodauthority.fi.
Handling of the application is subject to a charge in accordance with regulation 1193/2021 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, section 10.4 of the annex.