Pharma audit “really taking off”

Tom Windmuller, IATA’s senior VP airports, passenger, cargo and security, presented Sebastiaan Scholte, chief executive of Jan de Rijk Logistics and chairman of the Cool Chain Association, with a framed Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) Pharma certificate during the World Cargo Symposium (WCS).

The ceremony marked the company’s successful audit by the IATA CEIV, underlining its competence in managing temperature-controlled pharma shipments. Swissport’s handling operation in Brussels also received CEIV accreditation during the event.

“The CEIV programme is really taking off,” Windmuller said. “Eleven companies at Brussels Airport took part in the first round of company visits and seven have now been accredited.” Nine more operators are following into the programme in a second wave this year.

IATA launched the initiative in January 2014 to ensure airlines, handlers and air freight forwarders are compliant with changing international pharma handling regulations, and to help them reverse the trend of modal shift in this fast-growing market.

Under the CEIV programme, IATA assesses companies’ cool chain processes and facilities, reviews the pharmaceutical handling training status of relevant personnel, and provides skills training where required.

Brussels’ approach was to bring its cargo community together and encourage ground handlers, forwarders, trucking companies and airlines to jointly undertake CEIV training, and thus strengthen its credentials as a pharmaceutical hub. It was the first site in Europe to do this, following the lead taken by SATS Coolport in Singapore.