With its new global certification program for the transportation of cold-chain pharmaceuticals – the CEIV Pharma, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomes Brussels Airport acceptance to become the first European hub for pharmaceutical freight.
As a standardized global certification program, IATA’s Centre of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV Pharma) will hold trainings and conduct onsite assessments to provide the industry with the needed expertise for shipping cold-chain pharmaceutical products worldwide.
In relation to the Pharma training, Brussels Airport encourages a group of ten local stakeholders to join the training so as to unite the cargo community for the purpose of getting certified. At the same time, Brussels-based stakeholders will have the chance to present pharmaceutical companies the competitive advantage of guaranteed cold-chain integrity to clients. The local stakeholders include ground handlers, freight forwarders, truckers and airlines.
For competent and fast transportation of high – value, time – sensitive and temperature – sensitive cargo, the pharmaceutical industry depended greatly upon the airline industry despite the lack of recognized global certification standards. In connection to this, Tony Tyler, IATA Director General and CEO, says, “IATA has been working very hard with our stakeholders to ensure product integrity for these types of shipments.”
He then adds, “The CEIV Pharma certification program provides participants in the air cargo value chain with the tools to ensure that they are operating to the highest standards for the transport of what in many cases are life-saving drugs and medicines. And it will give pharmaceutical companies confidence and assurance that their cold-chain logistics requirements are being met through an independent certification process.”
According to Steven Polmans, Head of Cargo at Brussels Airport, Brussels Airport aims to strengthen its position as a leading gateway in the handling and transportation of pharmaceutical freight in Europe. On top of this, he emphasised the importance of standardized, sanitary and secure transportation of cold-chain pharmaceutical products throughout the world.
For 2014, the whole pharmaceutical industry will expend $8.36 billion on cold chain logistics. And by 2018, the industry is anticipated to increase to more than $10 billion.