Under the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024, you cannot export live cattle, sheep, pigs, goats or horses for fattening or slaughter. This applies to journeys from or through Great Britain to anywhere outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man.
You can still export live cattle, sheep, pigs, goats or horses for other purposes. For example, for breeding and competitions. You must meet legal requirements to protect animal welfare during transport. More information can be found here –
Transporting animals to, from or through Great Britain – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
You are now required to provide proof of the purpose of export as part of your journey log application. APHA must be satisfied that the animals are not being exported for slaughter or fattening. To facilitate this, we have agreed with Defra to carry out an industry-assured verification process in relation to evidence submitted to us.
The verification process takes up to five working days, although we expect the process to be much quicker in most cases. This is not affected by the number of animals being moved or the export destination country. Once the verification process is complete, you will be provided with a unique reference code to add to section 1 of your journey log application. APHA will be notified of any codes issued and will not approve a Journey Log without being satisfied that the journey is for permitted purposes. The code is valid for 30 days from the date of issue. Only one reference code is required per shipment.
Once your journey has been verified, you will receive a unique six digit code (E.g NPA-DDMMYYY-123456) this code must then be completed on your Journey log to APHA and is valid for 30 days from the date of issue.
Note: “Journey organiser” means the person who has overall responsibility for planning a journey and preparing the journey log in respect of the journey and signing Section 1 of the journey log.
If you are moving pedigree/rare breed pigs please click here
If you are a breeding company producing commercial pigs based in the UK please click here
For other livestock species, please visit the appropriate site: