ANA - First Airline in Japan to Receive IATA CEIV Pharma Certification

(Source: ANA HOLDINGS)

TOKYO, November 15, 2017 - ANA becomes the first airline in Japan to be awarded the IATA CEIV (Center of Excellence for Independent Validators) Pharma Certification (*1), a globally recognized pharmaceutical product handling accreditation at ANA's largest cargo operation, located at Narita International Airport (Tokyo).

IATA produced the CEIV with the aim to support enterprises and organizations' activities involved in the air cargo supply chain. The CEIV Pharma Certification seeks to provide a high quality handling process, protecting the product quality during the transportation from environmental factors such as temperature excursions. In order to obtain this certification, the applying company has to clear a check list comprised of approximately 250 audit items.

The certification encompasses and in some cases exceeds, existing pharmaceutical standards and guidelines such as the European Union's Good Distribution Practice (*2) and the World Health Organization's Good Distribution Practices for Pharmaceutical Products.

To provide a higher quality in handling and transporting pharmaceutical products, ANA implemented numerous enhancements in various areas, such as organizational structure, training, quality management, and handling manual. These enhancements enabled ANA to become the first airline in Japan to receive this certification.

Last autumn, ANA developed the product "PRIO IB Fixed Temp." - a solution for temperature controlled product transportation, and will continue to strengthen the quality of pharmaceutical handling to meet customer's needs.

(*1) About CEIV Pharma:

IATA CEIV Pharma (Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics) is a certification program set by IATA for companies and organizations in air freight cargo shipping to validate the handling of pharmaceutical shipments based on the GDP.

(*2) About Good Distribution Practice ("GDP"):

Guideline to guarantee the whole logistic processes' quality, including storage, transfers, etc., from production to delivery to the end-consumers of the pharmaceutical goods.