THE air cargo industry and IATA need to prevent more
pharmaceuticals shipments going by sea on the basis of quality rather than
price, say forwarders and shippers, reports London's Loadstar.
Seabury consultants report that air cargo global pharmaceutical
transport share has fallen to 11 per cent from 17 per cent in 2000, mostly
because sea freight is more reliable, a Lisbon air cargo handling conference
was told.
"Sea freight is just more secure. You seal the
reefer and off it goes. It is a very secure product, as long as you don't
forget to plug it in," said Kuehne + Nagel global air logistics vice
president Marcel Fujike.
In air freight, there is a lack of skills, training and
standards throughout cool-chain logistics, with "no SOPs [standard
operating procedures] or working instructions in place", he said.
Mr Fujike said other problems included a lack of
cooperation and communication throughout the logistics chain, including
shippers, who were "very shy in sharing information too".
Vulnerable spots in the air transport chain included
handling, loading, and the tarmac phase, "which is the weakest link"
as well as customs clearance.
This created an urgent challenge for air freight, he
added. "We need a change, if you want to play a role in the future in
pharma handling."
He said serious pharma logistics players only dealt with
partners they had carefully audited and assessed, calling on airlines, handlers
and airports to invest in infrastructure and equipment such as warehousing,
temperature-controlled vehicles to cover the tarmac phase, and thermal
blankets.
Mr Fujike said many forwarders, carriers and airports
claimed to provide services for pharmaceutical products, "but when you dig
deeper, you distinguish between those that have invested and those that have
just jumped on the bus".
He said the Cool Chain Association (CCA) was now calling
for standards such as the pharmaceutical sector's Good Distribution Practice
(GDP) to become embedded within cool-chain logistics, and for a wider culture
of compliance.
DHL's life sciences quality chief Nina Heinz said
airlines were not doing enough to explain to shippers the differences between
their general cargo and special products.
Said Mr Fujike: "IATA [International Air Transport
Association] must spearhead the air cargo GDP standard development. We are
waiting for a long time already, and I don't know why it is not happening. My
question to IATA and the carriers behind IATA is - are you really
willing?"
Serious pharma logistics players such as Kuehne + Nagel
and DHL are "sick and tired of waiting" and are making their own
investments, he said.
"Then you have various standards and systems out
there and it is a nightmare for those that are inside the sandwich, the ground
handler, who is forced to enforce various systems and procedures - and it is
chaos! IATA is sleeping," said Mr Fujike.
But IATA cargo chief Des Vertannes replied that he faced
obstacles in creating standards that could be enforced. A big part of the
problem was that after five years of economic stagnation, air cargo was getting
no investment.
"Airlines don't treat cargo with any degree of
priority. There is no broad recognition of what needs to be done, whether it is
the adoption of transformational projects like e-freight or whether we should
be doing anything else in terms of investment in facilities. Even upgrading IT
platforms is a struggle for every airline," he said.
"But I think that if we are serious, and if we start
to see evidence of modal shift, and if the shippers believe that ocean freight
is more reliable than the most expensive mode of transport, which is air cargo,
then the call for action that you are relaying today applies to all of
us." Mr Vertannes said, adding that IATA's Cargo Operations Advisory Group
(COAG), is recommending a programme of facility classification that would meet
some of Mr Fujike's points.
Source : HKSG.
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