Frankfurt Cargo Services (FCS) has successfully concluded the CEIV certification process, it has revealed.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) gives this certification to companies that can ensure high quality across the board for sensitive medical products. With vital deliveries of large quantities of vaccine for the novel coronavirus likely to be needed in the near future, these kinds of handling options are becoming more important than ever before.

FCS manager of processes and pharma handling, Stefan Kassau, said: “The requirements that apply to safe storage and transportation of pharmaceutical products have been evolving steadily in recent years. Pharmaceutical handling is very demanding. It requires clear and stable processes for product safety. Earning certification according to the IATA CEIV standard confirms to us and our customers the quality of FCS’s longstanding activities in this segment.”

“It is the basis and incentive for continuing and building on our successful work and guaranteeing our customers that their pharmaceutical consignments will be handled safely at Frankfurt Airport.”

The IATA audit found the internal training on handling pharmaceutical products that is incorporated into the FCS training concept according to IATA CEIV specifications to be good.

A smooth and uninterrupted cold chain is vital to reliable pharmaceutical logistics. Many pharmaceutical products are very sensitive to even the slightest fluctuations in temperature, and some can even lose efficacy. This makes well-trained staff “essential”, alongside high-performance warehouses with stable refrigeration and cooling options.

“In the course of the certification process, the FCS special warehouses were equipped with a state-of-the-art new temperature monitoring system and underwent an in-depth audit. Functionality and safety for the products was confirmed by the necessary temperature mapping activities,” added FCS manager of quality assurance and performance improvement,  Christoph Cyranek,.

“As part of our preparations for the logistics involving Covid-19 vaccines that is presumably coming up, this certification comes at just the right time, of course. As the first step, we already decided to expand our existing infrastructure so even more handling space can be provided for active refrigerated containers.”