Community certification project for pharma handling at Brussels Airport Industry Context The global pharmaceutical industry relies on the speed of air cargo for moving this high-value, temperature-sensitive cargo. Pharma shipping has in recent years become the fastest-growing segment of the international air freight industry and not only cargo carriers but forwarders and handlers have attempted to secure their share of the sector through branded and specialised products and services. Key to the whole process of shipping pharmaceuticals is keeping each and every shipment within the defined temperature parameters. Historically, there have been an enormous number of different regionally based regulations for the industry like airlines, handlers and forwarders to comply with (such as the EU’s Good Distribution Practice, or GDP), but no global certification standards. Brussels Airport Pharma Certification Program Beginning of this year, Brussels Airport invited the whole of the BRUcargo air freight community to join the effort to upgrade, align and standardise the pharma handling processes as well as to train industry stakeholders through the entire supply chain on and around the airport in order to improve the handling of pharmaceutical cargo. Additionally Brussels Airport entered into a partnership with IATA, in order to fill the void by offering a global industry certification standard. The framework will be the IATA Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Handling programme, or CEIV Pharma. Brussels Airport will be the first airport community to be certified by IATA, serving as a pilot project for IATA. Furthermore it will be the first airport where all online handling agents will be pharma certified, triggering an increase in transparency and quality of pharma handling. On 19 August the kick-off of the BRUcargo pharma certification program took place together with the IATA project team and the 11 participating companies. All the different stakeholders that are involved in the cool chain through the airport are represented in the pilot group: airlines (Brussels Airlines Cargo, Finnair Cargo), handling agents (Aviapartner, Swissport, WFS), forwarders (AD Handling, BPL, Expeditors, UTi, SDV), truckers (Jan de Rijk). “The wide range and diversity of the participants shows the broad interest of the pharma logistics community based at BRUcargo and the commitment to take the pharma handling to a next level” says Nathan De Valck, Brussels cargo resident pharma and life science logistics expert in charge of the pharma and PER projects at Brussels airport. In the next 4 months all participants will be assessed against the checklist of the global pharma certification standard developed by IATA. This will allow to close any gap in the pharma cool chain through the airport and upgrade, align and standardize the pharma handling process. In parallel the training program will allow all the participants to increase and anchor their pharma expertise. By the end of this year this quality and training program will lead to the certification of the BRUcargo based pharma handling activities of the participants, further strengthening the position of Brussels Airport as preferred European pharma gateway. “The Belgian regulator (FAGG), Belgian Customs as well as the pharma shipper community has been invited to be actively involved in the project. This highlights Brussels Airports’ intention to build a broad consensus on the subject” explains Nathan De Valck. “Brussels Airport is aiming to strengthen its position as a leading gateway for the handling and transportation of pharmaceutical freight in Europe,” says Steven Polmans, Head of Cargo at Brussels Airport. “We hope that our leadership in being recognized as a CEIV Pharma certified community will persuade other airports to do the same. It is important that cold-chain pharmaceutical products can be transported in a standardized, sanitary and secure way throughout the world.” BRUcargo Participating Companies: “Regulatory compliance and product safety are today’s top priorities. Aviapartner, the specialist handler for pharma logistics in Brussels, is as demanding as the pharma shippers are. We bring them dedicated, controlled and continuously monitored solutions”, says Eddy Myngheer –Station manager Aviapartner Brussels. “SDV is proud to announce its participation to the pharma certification program organized by Brussels Airport as part of our company’s strategy to service its growing customer base in the healthcare & life science industry” Says Peter Claessens – Sales Director for SDV in Belgium, Netherlands & Luxemburg. “Healthcare & Life science is one of SDV’s fastest growing business industry verticals, serving pharmaceutical companies, nuclear medicine sector and medical device manufacturers. Today, SDV is one of the world’s top supply chain service providers for the healthcare, aid & relief industry and the business accounts for around 8% of the company’s revenues. Participating to the GDP certification program in Brussels is taking us again one step further”. Finnair Cargo established its 2nd hub in Brussels in April 2013 and the pharma process development is a natural next step in our cooperation. Finnair Cargo is honored to be one of the first carriers in the world to enter the IATA pharmaceutical certification process. We are committed to be at the forefront in this fast growing air cargo segment, says Juha Järvinen, Finnair Cargo Managing Director. “We are very excited to be part of the BRUcargo pharma certification program as this is a major step forward to positioning Brussels Airport as a true Pharma Hub” says Dirk Dendauw – Cargo sales manager for Swissport Cargo Services. “We are convinced that we are in the right position to meet the handling needs of pharma producers in Europe and will be a reliable and solid handling partner for these special products. We are convinced that all staff in Belgium, present and future, will see the importance of this program.”
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 08:55:16 +0000
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