Animal identification in Republika Srpska: ear tags, cattle passports, deadlines, fines

Every head of cattle, sheep, goat and pig on a holding in Republika Srpska must carry an ear tag, and cattle also need a passport. Horses must be identified too. The duty applies even to a holding with only two or three animals.

In short

• The holding is entered in the state database and gets a unique registration number. An authorised veterinary organisation registers it at the first tagging.
• A calf gets a tag in each ear within 20 days of birth, and before it leaves the holding. Sheep and goats are tagged within six months (nine months in extensive farming), and pigs before they leave the holding where they were born.
• Every birth, death and movement is reported within 7 days.
• An untagged animal cannot be sold. Subsidy claims need a tagging confirmation from the Veterinary Information System of Republika Srpska (VIS RS).
• The fine for an untagged animal is 500 to 1,500 KM for a private person and 1,000 to 3,000 KM for a sole trader or a legal entity.

Who it applies to

Every owner of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses, whatever the number of animals. Only veterinary organisations authorised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management (Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede) may tag cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and other equines. The Ministry may also authorise a breeding organisation, or a breeder for their own herd (Law on Veterinary Medicine, Zakon o veterinarstvu, Art. 68).

What to do

1. Ask an authorised veterinary organisation (a veterinary station or clinic) to register your holding. If your farm is in the farm register (Registar poljoprivrednih gazdinstava), its number from that register is recorded next to the registration number.
2. Cattle: apply for tagging within 14 days of the calf's birth. The organisation must tag the calf within five days of your request. The passport is printed within 14 days of the birth report, and you receive it through the veterinary organisation.
3. Sheep and goats: apply at least seven days before the six-month (or nine-month) period ends. The tag goes in one ear.
4. Pigs: apply for piglets within 20 days of birth. The tag must be in place before the pigs leave the holding.
5. Keep a register of the animals on the holding, on paper or electronically. Store it where the animals are and keep it for three years after the last entry.
6. Whenever cattle are moved, each animal travels with its passport. Sheep, goats and pigs travel with a movement document (putni list) that the owner fills in. The person who receives the animals keeps it for three years.
7. If a tag is lost or becomes unreadable, the animal gets a replacement tag as soon as possible, with the same number plus a Roman numeral showing that it is a replacement (BiH Rulebook, Art. 8). Ask the veterinary organisation about the deadline for reporting a lost tag. Report a lost or damaged passport to the authorised tagger within seven days, and you will get a duplicate (Law on Veterinary Medicine, Art. 74).
8. When a head of cattle dies, notify the authorised tagger and hand over its passport when the tagger comes. The tagger sends it with the tags to the Data Entry Office (Kancelarija za unos podataka) (Law on Veterinary Medicine, Art. 72). The BiH Rulebook sets a deadline of seven days for handing in the passport of a dead head of cattle.

These deadlines come from the BiH Rulebook. We found the official text of the Rulebook only with the amendments up to 2012 (No. 41/12), and could not check the amendments of 2015 and 2016 (No. 52/15, 2/16 and 66/16). The Law on Veterinary Medicine also provides for a Republika Srpska rulebook on identification, but we could not find it. Confirm the deadlines and procedure in Republika Srpska with an authorised veterinary organisation or the Agency for Animal Identification.

Deadlines and amounts

• Reporting births, deaths and movements: 7 days. When cattle go to a shared summer pasture, the official veterinarian can extend this period.
• Sheep and goats: the number of animals on 1 December is reported once a year, within 15 days of that date.
• The owner pays for tagging and registration (Law, Art. 76). The Government of Republika Srpska sets the fee by decree, so ask the veterinary organisation for the price before tagging.
• Under the 2026 incentive rulebook, the veterinary organisation receives 1 KM per pig tagged and 1.50 KM per animal for data entry (Art. 68). This money goes to the organisation, not to the owner.
• For microchipping a horse, the incentive rulebook provides 15 KM (Art. 70). Owners claim this incentive through the authorised veterinary organisation, so ask the organisation whether the amount is taken off your bill.
• Fines under the Law on Veterinary Medicine for keeping, selling or importing an animal that is not tagged and registered: legal entity 1,000 to 3,000 KM and its responsible person 300 to 900 KM (Art. 120), sole trader 1,000 to 3,000 KM (Art. 121), private person 500 to 1,500 KM (Art. 122). The same fines apply if you do not hand in the passport of a dead head of cattle or do not report a lost passport on time.

Why it matters

• Sales: an animal may be sold only if it is tagged and comes from a registered holding, with an identification document and a health certificate (Law on Veterinary Medicine, Art. 77).
• Subsidies: a claim for the sow premium (Art. 10) or the sheep and goat premium (Art. 11) of the 2026 incentive rulebook must include a tagging confirmation from VIS RS, issued by the authorised veterinary organisation. Only a farm whose core herd has at least 10 sows, or at least 50 sheep (30 sheep of noble breeds) or 10 goats, is entitled to these premiums. The cow-calf premium requires a VIS RS confirmation that at least one calf per cow was born and tagged, plus copies of the cows' passports or pedigrees (Art. 9). For the fattened pig premium, the start of fattening is reported to the Agency for Agrarian Payments (Agencija za agrarna plaćanja) within 30 days of tagging, buying or importing the pigs (Art. 19). The 2026 deadline for the premiums under Art. 9, 10 and 11 was 30 September 2026.
• Inspection: if the official veterinarian finds animals that are not identified and registered at all, all movement of animals to and from the holding is banned. If the owner cannot prove their identity and origin within two working days, the official veterinarian must order their destruction without compensation (BiH Rulebook on marking and control of animal movement, Art. 19, text with amendments up to No. 41/12). Ask the Agency for Animal Identification whether later amendments changed this.
• Anthrax vaccination: in anthrax districts, including Gacko and Bileća, animals are vaccinated once a year through an authorised veterinary organisation. The vaccination is paid from incentive funds (4 KM per small and 6 KM per large animal, incentive rulebook, Art. 69), but only for properly tagged animals.

The BiH Rulebook sets no deadlines for horses, but the Law requires them to be identified. Ask the veterinary organisation about the deadline and procedure.

Where to go

• The veterinary station or clinic authorised for your municipality. The Ministry keeps the list of authorised organisations.
• Agency for Animal Identification (Agencija za obilježavanje životinja) at the Veterinary Office of BiH, Dragana Bubića 14, Banja Luka, telephone +387 51 457-610.
• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Republika Srpska, Trg Republike Srpske 1, Banja Luka, telephone 051/338-415.

Laws and sources

• Rulebook on marking and control of animal movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Pravilnik o obilježavanju i kontroli kretanja životinja u Bosni i Hercegovini, Službeni glasnik BiH 13/10, 79/10, 25/11, 103/11, 41/12, 52/15, 2/16 and 66/16), list of regulations of the Veterinary Office of BiH
• Text of the Rulebook with amendments up to No. 41/12 (FAOLEX, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN)
• Law on Veterinary Medicine in Republika Srpska (Zakon o veterinarstvu u Republici Srpskoj, Službeni glasnik Republike Srpske 75/17), Art. 68 to 77 and 120 to 122, with amendments (Službeni glasnik Republike Srpske 63/24)
• Rulebook on conditions and procedure for monetary incentives for agriculture and rural development for 2026 (Službeni glasnik RS 16/26)