MIAMI– Aug. 25, 2011—DHL’s Chicago (ORD), San Juan (SJU) and Toronto (YYZ) stations have been accredited as Qualified Envirotainer Providers (QEP). All three stations met the requirements of a five-step process, to earn the Envirotainer accreditation. More than 60 employees in the three stations combined, received training, required for accreditation. As the largest forwarder of Envirotainer containers—manufactured air cargo containers used for temperature sensitive shipments—DHL Global Forwarding is a leader in this specialized service area.
For more than a decade, the ORD and SJU stations have been responsible for transporting Life Science and Healthcare industry medications for more than 10 of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, with most shipments imported and exported to Europe and South America. The ORD station currently processes more than 650 import and export Envirotainer shipments per year, while SJU processes approximately 300 shipments.
“This accreditation provides customers with a high degree of assurance that their shipments are being transported following the policies, processes, procedures and instructions required under the QEP Program,” said Brian Lindholm, CEO DHL Global Forwarding North America.
With close to 40 years serving the Life Sciences industry, the YYZ station is the first in Canada to receive QEP accreditation. Having been previously accredited, the YYZ station is receiving reaccreditation under the QEP’s new criteria. The station is currently working on special customer standard operating procedure tools, in an effort to further develop its Life Sciences Program.
Envirotainer, pioneers of active temperature-controlled air cargo containers, launched its QEP/CEP Training and Quality Program at the request of shippers of healthcare products, and in response to industry guidance. To better serve their customers, the Program works with service providers equipped to properly manage shipments using Envirotainer containers. By doing so, providers meet the requirements defined in the current Good Distribution Practices (GDP) guidance documents, which include the requirements of the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
