Livestock paperwork comes with a lot of letters. Here is what each term means in plain English, checked against official sources and linked to the guide that covers it in detail.
BCMS stands for British Cattle Movement Service, which runs the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) for England and Wales. LIS is the Livestock Information Service replacing it in England. ScotEID, EIDCymru and NIFAIS are the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish systems. APHA is the Animal and Plant Health Agency, VMD the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, CPH the county parish holding number and EID electronic identification. POM-V, POM-VPS, NFA-VPS and AVM-GSL are the four medicine classes, and MTD is Making Tax Digital.
BCMS: BCMS stands for British Cattle Movement Service. It works with the Rural Payments Agency, runs the Cattle Tracing System for England and Wales, issues passports there and takes reports of births, movements and deaths. See the BCMS to LIS guide.
CTS: Cattle Tracing System, the database of cattle births, movements and deaths, used through CTS Online or farm software. Defra is replacing it in England, and the first new cattle service is due in 2027.
LIS: Livestock Information Service, England's new traceability service. It already handles sheep, goat and deer movements, and will take cattle in time. CTS keeps running until the cattle rollout is complete.
CPP35: The notice of registration issued instead of a passport when a calf is registered after 27 days. The animal cannot enter the food chain and moves only under licence. See what a late passport means.
Cattle passport: The document travelling with each animal born or imported into Great Britain since 1996, recording its movements. You apply by registering the birth within 27 days. See the 27-day passport rule.
ScotEID: The Scottish livestock traceability service. Keepers report cattle births, movements and deaths through ScotMoves+, and since 4 October 2021 it has issued passports for the Scottish Government.
EIDCymru: The Welsh livestock identification system, already used for sheep, goat and deer movements. Welsh cattle reporting is planned to move from BCMS to EIDCymru in winter 2026, dates to be confirmed.
NIFAIS: Northern Ireland Food Animal Information System, the DAERA system that replaced APHIS for livestock identity and movements. Keepers notify births, deaths and movements online, by phone or on paper. See cattle systems by nation.
APHA: Animal and Plant Health Agency, an executive agency of Defra. It allocates herd and flock marks, runs TB testing and movement restrictions, and advises on standstill exemptions in England, Scotland and Wales.
CPH: County Parish Holding number, the unique code for the land where livestock are kept, used when reporting movements. The Rural Payments Agency allocates it in England, and each holding needs one.
Holding: The land and buildings where you keep livestock. A business can have several, each with its own CPH. One holding can cover land within 10 miles of the main area for cattle.
Keeper: Whoever has day-to-day care and control of the animals, whether or not they own them. Keepers carry the legal duties to identify, record and report, even for pets.
Herd mark and flock mark: The identifier APHA allocates to a keeper, printed on ear tags to show where an animal was born. You need one before ordering official tags. See the cattle ear tag guide.
EID: Electronic identification: a microchip in an ear tag, read by a scanner. Sheep have used low-frequency EID since 2010, and adult sheep need an electronic identifier. See sheep EID tags and flock register.
BEID: Bovine electronic identification. Defra expects it to be mandatory for newborn calves in England during 2027, and Wales expects 2028. Existing cattle need no retagging. See what EID in 2027 changes.
Holding register: The record of births, deaths, movements and tag changes kept for each holding. Cattle registers are kept 10 years from 31 December of the last entry. See the holding register guide.
Movement licence: A permit to move an animal lacking a full passport. For cattle on a CPP35 notice it allows moves only to a BSE sampling site, a knacker's yard or hunt kennels.
Standstill: After you bring cattle, sheep or goats onto your holding, nothing may leave for 6 days, and pigs moved on stop pigs leaving for 20 days. Day 1 is the day after arrival, and direct-to-slaughter moves are exempt.
On-movement and off-movement: An off-movement is animals leaving your holding, and an on-movement is animals arriving. Both are recorded and reported, and in England the receiving sheep keeper reports the on-movement themselves. See sheep movement reporting.
Bovine TB: Bovine tuberculosis, controlled by herd tests at intervals set by area. England's default is 6 months in the High Risk Area, 6 or 12 in the Edge Area and 4 years in the Low Risk Area. See TB testing and movement rules.
Fallen stock: Farm animals that die or are killed on the holding other than for human consumption. They must be collected without undue delay by an approved route. See fallen stock disposal rules.
NFSCo: The National Fallen Stock Company, a not-for-profit collection scheme for farmers and horse owners. Membership is free, and collectors set the charge. See National Fallen Stock Scheme cost.
ABP: Animal by-products: carcasses and other animal material not eaten by people. They travel in covered, leakproof containers with a commercial document and go to approved premises.
TSE: Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, the family of diseases that includes BSE. In England and Wales, cattle dying on farm over 48 months are tested. See the BSE testing guide and the 7-day death rule.
VMD: Veterinary Medicines Directorate, the Defra agency regulating animal medicines in the UK. It publishes the regulations guidance, the Product Information Database and the cascade guidance.
VMR: Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013, as amended, the law on supplying, prescribing and recording animal medicines. Records for food-producing animals must be kept at least five years. See the VMR and farm records.
POM-V: Prescription Only Medicine, Veterinarian. It needs a vet's prescription, issued for an animal under that vet's care, and is supplied by a vet, or by a pharmacist on that prescription.
POM-VPS: Prescription Only Medicine, Veterinarian, Pharmacist, SQP. A vet, a pharmacist or a suitably qualified person (SQP) can prescribe and supply it, and it may only be supplied in line with a prescription from one of those three.
NFA-VPS: Non-Food Animal, Veterinarian, Pharmacist, SQP. Supplied without a prescription, but only by a vet, pharmacist or SQP, and meant for non-food animals such as pets, so check the label before using it on livestock.
AVM-GSL: Authorised Veterinary Medicine, General Sales List. There are no restrictions on supply, so no prescription is needed, and general retailers can sell it freely.
Withdrawal period: The time between the last dose and slaughter for food, or taking milk or eggs. Under the cascade the vet sets it, at least 28 days for meat if the product is not authorised for food animals. See withdrawal periods explained.
Cascade: The vet's decision tree for treating an animal when no suitable authorised medicine exists, using an unauthorised product in a set order. The vet must set the withdrawal period.
Medicine book: The farm's treatment record, kept as a book, sheets, invoices or software, for at least five years. See what goes in a medicine book and the 5-year rule.
Health plan: A written, farm-specific livestock health plan required by Red Tractor, signed, dated and reviewed annually by the vet. See health plan and vet review.
Red Tractor: The UK farm assurance scheme, assessing farms against written standards on medicines, traceability and fallen stock, with membership renewing every 12 months. See the Red Tractor audit checklist.
MTD: Making Tax Digital. For income tax it means digital records and quarterly updates, for qualifying income over £50,000 from April 2026, £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. See MTD for farmers.
AFRS: Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme, an alternative to VAT registration. You add a 4% flat rate addition to sales to VAT-registered customers, send no VAT returns, and cannot reclaim VAT on purchases. See the flat rate scheme.
RTI: Real Time Information, HMRC's payroll reporting. Employers send a Full Payment Submission on or before each payday, covering everyone they pay, including casual staff. See farm wage records.
NLW: National Living Wage, the minimum hourly rate for workers aged 21 and over, £12.71 from April 2026, changing every 1 April. See agricultural minimum wage by nation.
AWB: Agricultural Wages Board. The England and Wales board was abolished in 2013. Scotland kept its own, and Wales sets rates through the Agricultural Advisory Panel for Wales.
When you pick software to file under MTD, check it is recognised, not just compatible before you pay.BCMS stands for British Cattle Movement Service. It runs the Cattle Tracing System for England and Wales, issues passports there and takes births, movements and deaths. Scotland uses ScotEID and Northern Ireland uses NIFAIS. England is moving to the Livestock Information Service.
BCMS is the service, CTS is the database it runs, and LIS is the new English system that will replace CTS for cattle. Sheep, goat and deer movements in England already go through LIS. CTS keeps running for cattle until rollout is complete.
POM-V medicines need a vet's prescription and are supplied by a vet or, on prescription, a pharmacist. POM-VPS medicines can be prescribed and supplied by a vet, a pharmacist or a suitably qualified person.
Medicine records for food-producing animals must be kept at least five years. National Minimum Wage records must be kept at least six years. Cattle holding registers are kept 10 years from 31 December of the year of the last entry.