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^[1] - 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^[2] under stringent temperature requirements worldwide. Concerns are well-founded, as the bio-pharmaceutical sector reportedly suffers from an estimated USD35 billion loss annually^[3] 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^[4], 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^[5] 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.^[6]

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} ten billion doses (www.dhl.com)
3. ^{^} an estimated USD35 billion loss annually (www.aircargonews.net)
4. ^{^} IATA CEIV Pharma Standard (www.iata.org)
5. ^{^} first batch (www.dhl.com)
6. ^{^} Find out (lot.dhl.com)