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Issue 8 2018 - FBJNA


of Europe’s st r o n g e st p harma


clusters, today BRU is Europe’s premier pharmaceuticals air cargo hub. The program includes live GPRS tracking of shipments, and GDP certification of the entire supply chain. Nathan De Valck, Cargo


and Product Development manager, Brussels Airport, explains that the program was initiated by creating a quality management and training program based on the European GDP guidelines. “This created a quality improvement program that


supports the


handling of pharmaceutical shipments,”


resulted in the CEIV Pharma program of IATA. Soon after creating this


local program,


we partnered with IATA and BRU became the pilot and the first airport to go through the IATA certification program. Based on that, we built up a community of certified companies through training programs where stakeholders were educated in the specific needs and requirements of handling pharma shipments.” The


second aspect of


the program was quality handling practices and the validation of processes. “That helped us generate a positive momentum in our community,” De Valck says. Not only is BRU the first


airport to be designated by IATA as a pharma hub, it is still the biggest community of certified pharma shippers. “We have received so many


requests from airports asking about the best practices we did and how they could improve their handling that we decided to create a global cooperation group,” De Valck exclaims. That group was launched by BRU and Miami International Airport (MIA) and is called Pharma.Aero. Based on the CEIV program, the new group focuses on achieving excellence in


reliable end-to-end air


transportation for pharma shippers worldwide. “What makes it unique is we


have invited pharma shippers and all industry stakeholders to be


part of the group,”


says De Valck who is also chairman of Pharma.Aero.


he said. “This Luſthansa Cool Center at Frankfurt Airport (Luſthansa Cargo photo.)


///AIR CARGO


“A prerequisite to becoming a member is they must embrace IATA CEIV program standards.” The focus of the group


is global. “We identify potential areas for improvement and solutions by sharing best practices,” he says. This includes route certification/development of pharmaceutical trade lanes, implementation of best practices and sharing of market knowledge and expertise. “It’s been very successful.


We have received a lot of exposure,” he states. Its membership is growing rapidly. Among those that have joined are Singapore’s Changi International Airport (SIN), Sharjah International Airport


(SHJ), Hong Kong


International Airport (HKG), Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) Brussels Airlines, Singapore Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines


(ABC), Brinks Life Sciences, Johnson & Johnson, Expeditors, and DHL Global Forwarding.


Miami International


Airport. MIA is recognized by IATA as the second pharma hub airport in the world. “We earned this recognition for bringing together our local cargo community and engaging them in the Independent Validators (CEIV) Pharma Certification Program,” reports Jimmy Nares, Section Chief, Aviation Marketing, Miami-Dade Aviation Department. To date, six companies (two


airlines, two ground handlers, and two international freight forwarders) operating at MIA and in the immediate surrounding areas have obtained this certification, and two more are working towards it. “This rigorous certification


program best prepares logistics companies to


properly handle and store cold chain pharma products,” Nares


comments.


pharma products. Top import markets served


“As we


have been traveling around the world, our recognition as a ‘Pharma Hub Airport’ has grown and we have seen greater interest in using MIA to ship sensitive and valuable pharma products through due to our CEIV cargo community. We are also seeing that pharma shippers and freight forwarders are actively seeking out to work with the CEIV Certified companies at our airport.” To accommodate pharma


shipments, MIA has 451,115 square feet of on-airport refrigerated warehouse space used for all perishable products, including pharma. While the overall refrigerated space has remained about the same, more and more tenants (including the CEIV certified companies) are dedicating portions of their refrigerated space exclusively for storing


by MIA for pharma in terms of volume are India, Germany, and Spain; for exports, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina. As of Calendar Year to Date (CYTD) July 2018, pharma exports


handled by MIA


totaled 8,472,067 tons, up 31.3% from 6,452,056 tons in CYTD July 2017. The export value for CYTD July 2018 was


nearly $1.565 billion,


compared to CYTD July 2017 of just over $1,541 billion. The import volume for CYTD July 2018 was 1,667.227, up[22/4% from CYTD July 2017. The import value in CYTD July 2018


totaled over $1.803


billion, up a whopping 137.1% over CYTD July 2017 figures of $760 million. While not the sole reason


for new route development (as cargo shipped by air typically includes


various types of


products to fill the aircraft), Nares reveals that MIA is


seeing the development of new routes partly due to pharma. “For example, one of our cargo tenants, who is also CEIV Certified, is Amerijet,” he says. “Through our efforts and those of Brussels Airport, Amerijet will initiate direct air service between MIA and BRU in the near future,” Nares says. MIA is also active with


respect to its pharma promotional /development efforts on the continents of Africa and Europe, and in India. “We regularly participate


in cargo conferences such as Air Cargo Africa, Air Cargo Europe, and Air Cargo India and in pharma specific/cold chain conferences around the world in order to promote MIA as a pharma hub airport and boost business.,” he says. MIA was also an original


founder, along with BRU, of the Pharma.Aero association. “In 2016, we created this


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