UELN: TVD or national equine breeding organisations? Who is responsible?

 

The question: How do we make it clear to the TVD and the BLW that the TVD is not authorised to issue UELN life numbers – because the TVD is a national register for farm animals in general, not a specific register for equines, and because only the equine umbrella organisations are authorised to to issue UELNs?

The crux of the matter

The TVD (Animal Movement Database) was created to track animal movements – equally for all types of farm animals: cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and, indeed, equines. Its legal basis is animal disease legislation. Its purpose is the control of animal diseases and the traceability of movements – not breeding.

The UELN lifetime number has a different origin and a different purpose. It is regulated by Regulation (EU) 2016/1012 and the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/963 and consists of three parts: the country code (756 for Switzerland), an organisation code identifying the issuing organisation, and a sequential animal number. The second part is crucial: this organisation code always identifies the organisation that first registers the horse and issues the Certificate of Origin – in other words, the breeding organisation (in the case of the Haflinger, for example, code 016). This is also confirmed by the official UELN body itself: the UELN address refers to the register in which a horse is first entered, not to a general movement register.

The TVD is not a breeding organisation, not a stud book of origin and not a ‘Passport Issuing Organisation’ within the meaning of this regulation. It has no zootechnical function. It therefore lacks the legal basis to issue UELN numbers or to claim organisational codes – this responsibility lies solely with the breeding organisation or its breed umbrella organisation.

How do we make this clear to the TVD/BLW?

1. Explicitly state the distinction: ‘Animal Movement Register’ (traceability, all animal species, animal health legislation) versus ‘Breeding Register’ (pedigree, breed-specific, breeding legislation). Two different legal bases, two different purposes, two different areas of responsibility.

2. Ask the BLW/TVD in writing on what specific legal basis they rely to issue UELN organisation codes. No such basis exists for the TVD – this is difficult to dispute if one asks explicitly.

3. Refer to the official UELN Code Database (ueln.net) as evidence: there, you can check which organisations are actually registered as holders of an organisation code under country code 756. If the breeding organisations (e.g. 016 Haflinger, 013 Freiberger, 003 Warmblood) and not the TVD (756-018 + 9 further digits that are of internal significance to the TVD only), this constitutes direct, virtually irrefutable evidence.

Conclusion

The TVD (Animal Movement Database) manages animal movements, not pedigree. The allocation of UELNs is a zootechnical task of the breeding organisation or the breed umbrella organisation, which issues the ‘Certificate of Origin’. As long as the TVD cannot cite a valid legal basis for the allocation of UELNs, it is acting outside its remit.