Miami International Airport has hosted seminars to inform local shippers of regulation changes and familiarise them of pharmaceutical shipping requirements.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Drug Enforcement Administration hosted seminars to discuss the CBP Automated Commercial Environment Program (ACE). ACE is an automated, paperless reporting and admissibility system to streamline documentation of US trade, to be deployed by the end of 2016 for the reporting of imports and exports, as well as allowing the US government to determine admissibility of goods.

Miami also hosted a pharmaceuticals seminar to allow attendees to familiarise themselves with shipping requirements, which followed up on a day-long workshop hosted in February to discuss issues including its pharma hub designation and best practices. In 2015, Miami was designated a pharmaceutical freight hub by the International Air Transport Association, the second in the world after Brussels Airport. Between 2010 and 2014 the value of pharma shipped through Miami increased by 79 per cent to $3.3 billion.

Miami-Dade aviation director, Emilio Gonzalez says: “Initiatives such as the ACE Program and the pharma freight hub designation will keep MIA on the cutting edge of the cargo industry and help us maintain our standing as the busiest international freight airport in the US.”