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Moving animals within England

From 1 July 2025

You will not need a pre-movement test to move animals within England.

Until 11:59pm on 30 June 2025

You can apply for free pre-movement bluetongue testing if:

• you are moving animals from the to an unrestricted area of England
• testing is mandatory (check which animals need pre-movement bluetongue testing)
• the animals are not moving for immediate slaughter
• the animals are either going to a market outside the zone, or to a market in the zone but for sale to a destination outside the zone, or to a show

Moving animals from England to Wales听

If you are planning to move animals from England to Wales you should follow the guidance for .听

Until 11:59pm on 19 June 2025听

You can apply for free pre-movement bluetongue testing if:听

• you are moving animals from the restricted zone in England to Wales and testing is mandatory (check which animals need pre-movement bluetongue testing)
• the animals are not moving for immediate slaughter听
• the animals are either going to a market outside the zone, or to a market in the zone but for sale to a destination outside the zone, or to a show听

From 20 June 2025 all sampling, postage and pre-movement testing required for animal movements out of the restricted zone into Wales must be paid for by animal keepers.

Moving animals from England to Scotland

From 13 June 2025 all sampling, postage and pre-movement testing required for animal movements out of the restricted zone into Scotland must be paid for by animal keepers.

If you are planning to move animals from England to Scotland you should follow the guidance on .

Free movement testing

When to apply

To get free pre-movement testing for moves from the restricted zone to an unrestricted area of England or Wales you:听

• must apply for any movement licences you need before you request testing
• should apply for testing at least 10 working days before the planned move date
• must time the sampling so that your samples are still valid on the planned move date

Pre-movement test samples are valid for 10 calendar days (that is, 10 days including weekends and public holidays).

There is a maximum number of animals that can be sampled in any one day.

If you are moving a pregnant cow that was inseminated 6 months or more before the move, you will need a negative serology (ELISA) test as well as a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

You must move animals within the licence validity period specified in the conditions of your licence. You should contact APHA if you are unable to move within this period.听

If you fail to move your animal within the period in your licence and require another test you may be asked to pay for this.

How to apply鈥�听

You must contact UK Farmcare if you are eligible for free testing for moves within England or Wales.

You can apply for either:鈥�鈥�听

• free sampling and testing鈥�听
• free testing only, and pay for your own sampling from a private vet

To book free testing or sampling, contact UK Farmcare quoting your licence reference (this will be given to you by APHA when you apply for your movement licence).鈥�听

To contact UK Farmcare:

Preparing animals for sampling鈥�听

You should make sure any animals to be sampled are permanently marked (such as with an official ear tag) and held securely in suitable handling facilities.鈥�听

The vet might come to your premises alone. Make sure there are enough people available to round up your animals and present them for sampling.鈥�听

The vet who samples your animals will send the samples to鈥疶he Pirbright Institute for testing.

Free sampling and testing are in high demand and so results may take longer than normal.

Getting your results鈥�听

APHA will email the results to you or your private vet.鈥�听

Negative results from samples taken by UK Farmcare or the private vet and submitted for free testing will be reported to APHA. When APHA receives your negative results they can issue you a licence.

Do not contact Pirbright directly as they cannot issue the results to you.

Private bluetongue movement testing

How to get private movement testing

You must commission your own Private Veterinary surgeon (PVS) to collect samples at your cost. Guidance on collecting and sending samples can be found on and , and must be followed if using a PVS. Samples must be submitted directly to the Pirbright Institute.

You must clearly mark on the submission form whether bluetongue PCR only or bluetongue PCR and ELISA are requested. The submission form is available on .

Guidance on the required tests is available for England, and .

Samples will be tested on a first come, first served basis. There is no capacity to prioritise based on proposed movement dates, or for samples to be fast-tracked.听

The laboratory does not work on weekends or bank holidays.

Care should be taken by both the licence applicant and the private veterinary surgeon when undertaking sampling to ensure that the forms are completed accurately, the sampling is undertaken correctly, and the labels are completed clearly, otherwise this could lead to delays and potential fees to correct reports.

Getting your results鈥�听

The Pirbright Institute will email the results to you or your private vet and APHA at the same time.鈥�听

You should allow at least 3 working days for the laboratory to complete testing from the date they receive the samples.

When听APHA听receives your negative results they can process your licence.

Get help鈥�听

For more information about free bluetongue testing, contact鈥�APHA:鈥�听

You can also read more鈥�information and guidance on bluetongue for keepers.