Animal Health Board chief executive William McCook has been appointed to the top job of a hybrid organisation to be formed for overseeing livestock health and traceability.
It will be a merger of the board - which has been leading the fight against bovine tuberculosis - and the National Animal Identification and Tracing Scheme which registers tags for some livestock.
Mr McCook takes over the job early next month.
The merger will integrate the board's livestock tracking system for bovine Tb control with the NAIT scheme, which was introduced for cattle this year and will include deer from next year.
