OIE Reference Centres

An OIE reference centre can be designated as:

• “OIE Reference Laboratory” when its main mandate is to establish itself as a global reference centre of expertise for a specific pathogen or disease
• “Collaborating Centre of the OIE” when its main mandate is to establish itself as a centre of global reference for research, standardization of techniques and dissemination of knowledge for a certain specialty

The network of Collaborating Centres and Reference Laboratories is at the core of the scientific expertise and excellence of the OIE. The permanent contribution of these institutions to the work of the OIE guarantees the scientific relevance of the standards, guidelines and recommendations developed by the Specialized Commissions and published by the organisation.

Two or more reference centres can constitute a network of reference centres of the OIE, following the guidelines for the management of these networks.

At global level, efforts are underway to take advantage of the OIE’s network of Collaborating Centres to provide specialised training support to OIE Member Countries as well as to develop new training mechanisms and platforms, including e-learning.

View the terms of reference and internal rules for OIE Reference Centres