Key certification for cargo company's Covid vaccine preparations

FCS Frankfurt Cargo Services was recently granted EU good distribution practice (GDP) certification for medical products for human use—a key step in the company’s goal to expand its pharmaceutical logistics activities and ramp up preparations to handle sensitive Covid-19 vaccine consignments.

This designation comes on the heels of FCS concluding its International Air Transport Association (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) certification a few weeks back—one that airport hubs consisting of air cargo carriers, ground handlers and freight forwarders operating at the hub are able to receive collectively.

Unlike CEIV certification, which relates exclusively to airfreight, GDP certification stands alone. It involves checking the quality of the distribution chain for medical goods and ensuring that they are intact, from from the producer to the end customer, according to EU standards.

A subsidiary of Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), an airfreight handling company, FCS and its GDP certification fit into the “Project Coldstream” initiative recently launched by WFS, which focuses on coordinating worldwide transportation of large delivery quantities of vaccines to fight Covid-19. According to the IATA, the industry expects these deliveries to amount to the largest volume of airfreight involving a single item ever transported.