Singapore is the latest in DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific’s network to once again be recognized by IATA for the highest standards met by logistics providers for life science and healthcare (LSH) shipments
SINGAPORE – Media
OutReach – 9 February 2021 – As the furor around
the availability of Covid-19 vaccines grew late last year, the spotlight
quickly turned to the logistics sector and its capabilities in delivering more
than ten billion doses under stringent
temperature requirements worldwide. Concerns are well-founded, as the
bio-pharmaceutical sector reportedly suffers from an estimated USD35
billion loss annually
pre-Covid due to failures in temperature-controlled logistics.
DHL
Global Forwarding, the air, ocean and road freight specialist of Deutsche Post
DHL Group, began certifying its global stations with the IATA CEIV Pharma
Standard since 2016 and has recently re-certified its air freight station in
Singapore for another year.
The
IATA CEIV Pharma
Standard,
run by International Air Transport Association (IATA), is designed to ensure
compliance, standardization, accountability and transparency across the air
transport supply chain. “Singapore is the latest in our Asia Pacific network,
along with Japan and China, to receive the IATA CEIV Pharma re-certification.
This is especially timely as several countries try to secure Covid-19 vaccines
to put a halt to the economic and social impact of the pandemic,” said Kelvin
Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific.
“As
our teams continue to work closely with our customers to deliver these
vaccines, we appreciate that the accreditation is not only a quality mark of
our service and network, but is equally a recognition of the hard work and
dedication of our LSH specialists who work seamlessly across the world to
deliver best-in-class logistics services to our customers,” he added.
DHL has been actively involved with IATA’s
continuous efforts to adequately answer to the regulatory demands of the
pharmaceutical industry. At each location, IATA examines and compares the
station’s correspondence to its Temperature Control Regulations (TCR) as well
as GDP (Good Distribution Practices) guidelines from the European Union, World
Health Organization and other regulatory bodies.
“As
the freight forwarder that was involved with bringing in Singapore’s first batch of Covid-19
vaccines, DHL Global Forwarding places a huge emphasis on delivering the
highest supply chain standards for our LSH customers. The re-certification of
the IATA CEIV Pharma on a corporate level and for our air freight station at
Changi Airport stands testament to our commitment to support governments and
the LSH sector during this crucial recovery period,” said Christopher Lim,
Managing Director, DHL Global Forwarding Singapore and Malaysia.
Following
independent audits by third parties and training courses for employees on site,
the DHL Air GxP (good practice) facility in Singapore successfully renewed the
quality label by exceeding the usual quality standards for transportation and
storage of pharmaceutical goods.
DHL
provides its worldwide employees with vital tools to understand and meet customers’
and regulatory expectations. In addition to implementing specialized training
program by IATA regulation standards across its key GxP (good practice) facilities,
DHL’s CIF Certified Life Sciences Specialist (CLSS) program equally provides
a comprehensive curriculum of mandatory trainings, functional courses, and
material to unlock the knowledge of this specialized industry. Like at all
temperature-controlled locations of DHL, every designated employee in Singapore
involved in such shipments have successfully completed the training and are
certified LSH Specialists. This ensures that sensitive shipments are handled
with utmost care and in compliance with the highest industry standards.
With
its international network, DHL offers a wide-ranging product portfolio at its Air
GxP locations that covers all client needs for time and temperature sensitive airfreight
shipments and provides seamless temperature visibility along the supply chain.
Through its excellent service, DHL has successfully established itself as the
market leader for logistics solutions in the LSH industry. Special services
also include the door-to-door courier solution “Life Sciences graded Specialty
Courier”, the express service “Medical Express” with a fixed delivery time, and
“DHL Clinical Trial Logistics”, a logistics solution designed for clinical
studies such as the transportation of trial medication, ancillaries, and lab
kits.
Note to editors:
Vaccine logistics for Covid-19 will pose challenges along
the supply chain that must be jointly addressed by governments, NGOs,
pharmaceutical companies, and logistics players urgently. Find out what lessons Covid-19 has taught on securing stable
supply chains for future emergencies and the complexities in distributing the
vaccine across the globe.
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