DHL Global Forwarding’s stations in Frankfurt and Hamburg have gained IATA CEIV Pharma certification, following approval in Leipzig in April 2017.
DHL started to certify its global stations according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) in Pharmaceutical Logistics in the third quarter of 2016, with around 30 locations running through an independent auditing process including courses for employees in the first phase.
IATA examines the station’s correspondence to Temperature Control Regulations, Good Distribution Practice guidelines of the European Union, the Annex 5 of the World Health Organization and the United States Pharmacopeia Standards.
DHL Global Forwarding vice president of airfreight in Germany, Thilo Specht says: “Time critical and temperature sensitive pharmaceutical products require the highest quality standards in terms of warehousing, transportation and handling. To achieve this, standardised processes and a compliant, well-orchestrated network are mandatory.”
“Seeing Frankfurt and Hamburg extending our global network on stations certified according the IATA CEIV Pharma Standard is a great achievement giving a strong signal in terms of quality and reliability towards our customers.”
The DHL Thermonet Station in Leipzig was the first German station in the network to receive the quality label in April 2017, followed by Frankfurt and Hamburg, enhancing its transportation and storage quality levels of pharmaceutical goods and exceeds common quality standards in the DHL Air Thermonet stations.
DHL’s IT platform, LifeTrack offers transparency for temperature controlled shipments, ensuring it is not only tracked but also enables intervention if necessary during the supply process around the clock 365 days a year.
