Aug 16, 2011 10:02 AM

Logistics company DHL announced its Chicago IL (ORD); San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU); and Toronto, Canada (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 professional Envirotainer training, required for accreditation. DHL Global Forwarding is the largest forwarder of Envirotainer containers—manufactured air cargo containers used for temperature-sensitive shipments.

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 processes more than 650 import and export Envirotainer shipments per year, while SJU processes approximately 300 shipments.

With close to 40 years serving the life sciences industry, the YYZ station is the first station 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 working on special customer standard operating procedure (SOP) tools, in an effort to further develop its life sciences program.

Envirotainer launched its QEP/CEP Training and Quality Program at the request of shippers of healthcare products, and in response to industry guidance. The program works with service providers equipped to properly manage shipments using Envirotainer containers. By doing so, providers meet 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).

DHL Global Forwarding has more than 20 Life Science Competence Centers worldwide, with an expected opening of close to 10 more by the end of 2011. These centers have export and import temperature-controlled warehouses (+15° to +25° C and +2° to +8° C), real-time temperature monitoring, temperature data storage, and life science-dedicated personnel. The centers provide cool chain systems and Envirotainer shipments globally.