The Spanish Type Culture Collection (CECT) is a service of the Universitat de València and is the only public Microbial Biological Resource Centre (mBRC) in Spain acting as a depositary and supplier of bacteria, archaea, yeasts, filamentous fungi and viruses. It is an International Depositary Authority for microorganisms for patent purposes under the Budapest Treaty. It is registered in the World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM No. 412) and is a member of the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC, since 1977) and the European Culture Collections’ Organisation (ECCO, since 1983).
In addition, CECT, through the Universitat de València, coordinates the Spanish National Node of the European Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI-ERIC) and hosts the digital platform providing access to its services (mirri.org).
CECT has been certified to ISO 9001 since 2004 in order to ensure high-quality services. Since 2025, the scope of the certification is: “Deposit, preparation and supply of archaea, bacteria, filamentous fungi, yeasts and viruses. Identification, characterisation and preservation services for archaea, bacteria, filamentous fungi and yeasts.”
Accordingly, CECT provides products and services tailored to the needs of the scientific community and the industrial sector, supplying pure, viable and authentic reference strains, and offering advanced preservation and characterisation services for biological material.
To achieve this, CECT relies on highly qualified scientific staff whose expertise is continuously updated through ongoing training in preservation, identification and authentication techniques for microorganisms. Furthermore, participation in MIRRI-ERIC provides privileged access to information and involvement in projects related to the use and operation of mBRCs.
CECT is committed to the continuous improvement of its activities, following the Deming cycle (Plan–Do–Check–Act) as a management approach.
In addition to ISO 9001, CECT operates in accordance with other international recommendations, such as the OECD Best Practice Guidelines for Biological Resource Centres, ensuring the quality of microbial resources used for scientific advancement and biotechnology.
Through its procedures, CECT ensures compliance with applicable regulations in areas such as biosafety (risk groups, plant pathogens, biological agents, transport of dangerous goods and genetically modified organisms) and validates methods and procedures for handling microorganisms, as well as data management and storage.
Furthermore, CECT promotes the legal use of microorganisms in accordance with the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol. In this regard, it provides the necessary information for users to comply with access and benefit-sharing requirements established by countries of origin.
As a service of the Universitat de València, CECT adheres to its sustainability and environmental policies, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of its activities and to comply with all applicable waste management regulations.
Dirección de la CECT
Rosa Aznar Novella
31/04/2026
