Ovobank and the Single European Code (SEC)

Ovobank has adapted to the new European legislation “Single European Code (SEC) for Tissues and Cells.” Member States were required to transpose and incorporate the provisions of  Directive 2015/565 into their national legislation by no later than 29 October 2016, and apply the ESA requirements no later than April 29, 2017.

All our cells comply with this legislation and the document attesting the presence of our centre in the authorized Registry of Tissue Entities can be consulted. In addition, Ovobank already had the Ovotracker tool, a pioneering telematics system created by Ovobank’s I+D+i Department to monitor each of the phases of the process through which an ovum passes from the request to Ovobank until it reaches its destination. In addition, the collaborating centre can order the eggs they need through the application and the Ovobank website, which streamlines the process to the maximum.

All our cells comply with this legislation and the document attesting the presence of our centre in the authorized Registry of Tissue Entities can be consulted. In addition, Ovobank already had the Ovotracker tool, a pioneering telematics system created by Ovobank’s I+D+i Department to monitor each of the phases of the process through which an ovum passes from the request to Ovobank until it reaches its destination. In addition, the collaborating centre can order the eggs they need through the application and the Ovobank website, which streamlines the process to the maximum.

What is and what does the SEC consist of?

By introducing the SEC code on this platform, a user will be able to obtain information on the cells and about the establishment associated with them, including the activities for which he is authorized and their contact details, essential information for the end users.

The SEC code, in depth

The “Single European Code (SEC)” is composed of two main parts, one that refers to the donation and a second one that identifies the product. Both parts, in turn, are composed of the following codes:

• Identification sequence of the donation
  • EU Tissue Establishment Code. In the case of Ovobank, this code is ES009741:​
    • ES: ISO country code.
    • 009741: Number of the tissue establishment.
  • Unique donation number. 13 alphanumeric characters.
• Product Identification Sequence
  • Product code.
    • Identifier of the product coding system: 1 alphabetic character.
    • Product number: 7 alphanumeric characters. Those that affect Ovobank are E0000056 (embryos), E0000057 (eggs) and E0000059 (semen).
  • Sub-lot number: 3 alphanumeric characters.
  • Expiration date: 8 numeric characters, in YYYYMMDD format.