Guidance for the Livestock Information Service for sheep
Keeping accurate sheep movement records is a legal requirement, but the Livestock Information Service can also make the process quicker and easier for farmers in England.
The Defra traceability system allows sheep keepers to report movements online, maintain a digital holding register and keep livestock records in one place.
Movements onto a holding must be reported within three days, while further changes are planned as Defra moves towards a new multispecies livestock traceability service.
For farmers unsure how the system works, what information can be recorded or what happens when animals move through markets, shows or abattoirs, the following guidance answers some of the most common questions about LIS.
Why should I use LIS?
Traceability - Timely and accurate movement records enhance traceability and support confidence in the health status of your livestock. The free electronic holding register will also make your record keeping much easier.
Accuracy - Digital reporting improves the accuracy of livestock movement data to support decision-making and help reduce the spread of disease.
Speed - Online movements are recorded much quicker and more efficiently than the submission of paper forms, which improves the speed and accuracy of movement data.
Trade - Reporting your moves via LIS supports export trade opportunities. Your vet can also record their attestation of visits digitally on LIS.
Inform decisions - Online reporting via LIS helps to better inform agencies, government and industry to improve disease surveillance and control.
Report on movements – government guidelines
You must report on movements within three days of the animal arriving on to your holding. You can choose to report on movements either:
• Online using your LIS account or a farm software package
• By posting the LIS-1 movement document to LIS
The sending keeper cannot report the on movement for you. However, if the sending keeper has reported the move online, such as through a market, you can simply log in and confirm the movement onto your holding.
Alternatively, you can report the whole move, covering both the on and off movement.
Please complete the destination section of the document. You must keep a paper or scanned digital copy of this document for three years from the date the animal arrives on your holding.
However, if both the on and off moves were reported online, you do not have to keep copies.
FAQs for the Livestock Information Service
1. What’s the LIS sign-up process and how long does it take?
Before you can use the Livestock Information Service (LIS), you must first be registered as a Keeper of Livestock with APHA and have obtained a County Parish Holding (CPH) number.
To create your account, you will need to have your County Parish Holding (CPH) number and associated email address to hand, as verification is required.
The first step is to upload your animals onto your holding register, which can be done manually, by uploading a CSV or by connecting an EID reader.
2. What if I have a problem logging in, for example my CPH or email address is not recognised?
Firstly, check you have entered the slashes and numbers in the correct place for the CPH and check case sensitivity for email addresses. Then contact the LIS Support Team.
3. Why is LIS free to use and how does it differ from farm software?
LIS is Defra’s traceability system for recording the movement of sheep, goats or deer in England. Wales uses EID Cymru and Scotland uses ScotEID.
4. What can I record on LIS?
As a minimum, keepers can record the movement of animals on and off their holding and maintain a digital holding register.
They can also record an animal’s date of birth, breed, gender and death, as well as dam and sire information when recording EID tags.
5. Why are paper forms still required to accompany the animal?
Because not everyone uses the digital system yet. The LIS-1 form is still required to accompany the animal in transport and through markets.
It is necessary for certain record-keeping purposes. You can, however, print off the digital form after submission.
6. What farm software is linked to LIS?
The following software providers are integrated with LIS:
• AgriWebb
• Border Software Ltd
• Farm Matters Ltd
• Food IT-Solutions (IC)
• Hellenic Systems Ltd
• Newline ASP
• Shearwell Data Ltd
• Systems Integration Ltd
• TGL Software Ltd
7. When moving animals between your own holdings, do you need to set it up as a new movement every time and input all the data again?
Not always. If you are moving animals between CPHs frequently and by foot, it is possible to set up an adjacent movement on your holding register.
However, if the movement requires transport or is less frequent, the move must be reported using the ‘in business option’ or ‘batch movement’ from one holding to another.
8. When you send animals to the abattoir, if they only record the flock number and not the individual EID tags, how does your holding register stay up to date?
When reporting the ‘off’ movement on LIS, you can include all the tag numbers of the animals going to the abattoir.
This will then identify the animals in the ‘off’ movement on your holding register.
However, abattoirs are legally required to scan each animal’s EID for slaughter and include these on their own ‘on’ movement report.
9. I use LIS, but when you print the movement form off, why does it not include the VAN number?
This function isn’t available yet on LIS because not all Vet Attestations are recorded online.
10. With showgrounds, whose responsibility is it to report the movement of animals to and from the showground?
Each party is responsible for their own reporting, and it is the keeper’s responsibility to maintain an up-to-date holding register.
Therefore, the keeper should report the ‘off’ movement to the showground and then report the ‘on’ movement when the animals arrive back at the farm after the show.
The showground should equally report the ‘on’ movement of the animals on the day they arrive and the ‘off’ movement on the day they depart.
The ability to record a circular movement has been logged as a future improvement to LIS but has not yet been implemented.
11. Are there still plans to create a multispecies traceability system where cattle and sheep movements can be recorded in the same place?
Yes. Cattle will be onboarded first to Defra's new multispecies traceability service in 2027, with other species to follow in due course.
12. Will sheep keepers be required to log in via the GOV.UK website in the future?
Yes. Once sheep are onboarded to the new multispecies livestock traceability service, keepers will be required to log in via the 'One Login for Government' route.
This aligns with Defra's strategic ambitions to allow one set of login credentials to be used consistently across Defra services.
13. Are there still plans to mandate digital reporting for sheep movements?
Yes. Defra will continue to engage stakeholders on these changes in the lead-up to implementation, to ensure improvements to identification and traceability work for government and industry.
14. What enhancements are planned for the sheep service in the future?
In the near future, there will be more subtle updates to security and functionality on LIS to improve ease of use and options to self-serve when updating details.
Longer term, there will be wider transformational changes around digital and paperless movement reporting, mandating an electronic holding register and simplifying tagging.