While the industry involved in the shipment of perishables and temperature sensitive products (PTSP) now has a certification program designed to harmonize the shipment of perishable products and potentially save the industry millions of dollars, companies not already meeting those standards are being hampered by the world’s economy, according to Christian Helms, Secretary General of the Luxembourg-based Cool Chain Association (CCA).

In the Annual General Meeting held earlier this summer, Board Chair Robert Arendal noted that the cargo industry wastes 30 percent of PTSP during the movement and handling of the products primarily “due to lack of common procedures, lack of training, lack of communication standards and lack of measuring criteria for the unbroken supply chain.” This is at a time when some 923 million people, or 14 percent of the world’s population (based on 2007 figures), was undernourished, “and malnutrition is the largest contributor to disease in the world,” he said.

Founded in 2003 to find ways to improve the cool chain process and reduce that wastage, CCA is made up of members of the international cargo industry involved in the movement and handling of PTSP. In 2005 it established a certification standard for the industry called Cool Chain Quality Indicators (CCQI). CCA members certified under CCQI become approved supply chain providers for air, sea and road cargo users looking for the most highly qualified providers. Certification “gives the certified company a better position in comparison with the competitor who is not certified,” Helms said.

CCA is currently made up of 41 members including freight forwarders, airlines, airports, perishable centers, transportation companies, universities and other organizations, although “unfortunately we have no shippers as members so far,” he said.

And while establishing the standards of the CCQI would ultimately save companies money in the long run through more efficient and less wasteful movement and handling procedures, “implementing the best in practice standards of the CCA certainly also costs money,” Helms said. “Hence the effect is that the companies (that did not apply) the standards before the crisis are now facing a problem.”

A core principle of the CCA is to promote CCQI through communications with the industry, “based on conferences, seminars and publications,” he said. Unfortunately, CCA is a non-profit organization dependent on its membership for funding, and while the world “is listening a lot better,” the current economy is making it more difficult for CCA members to devote time and resources. “As we don’t have deep resources, but depend on members activities, our ability to move faster is greatly reduced,” Helms said.

A recent example of CCA success is an ongoing strategic project with the Perishable Product Export Control Board of South Africa, an independent service provider of quality certification and cold chain management services for producers and exporters of South African perishable food products. The PPECB controls all perishable exports from South Africa, valued by the PPECB at 9 billion Rands (US$1.2 billion) per annum.

“They are interested in expanding and developing standards for transportation of perishables with the help of CCA,” Helms said. “Once that is finalized, which may take some time, it is planned to incorporate CCQI into the PPECB legislation.”

The certification process of a company or government agency, such as the PPECB, is actually done by Germanischer Lloyd Certification GmbH, the exclusive auditing body of the CCA. Since every cargo provider’s cool chain is different, its operations are compartmentalized to be made comparable with a similar operation of a different, but certified, cool chain provider. Each compartment is then rated by GLC to ensure that the various elements conform to the basic requirements for a high-quality cool chain and that it meets the CCA’s CCQI benchmarks.

CCA also noted at its AGM that it is highly concerned about challenges in the transportation of pharmaceutical products “where the need of an unbroken cool chain is often vital for the temperature sensitive products and the treatment of patients.” Arendal said. With the threat of pandemics growing owing to globalization, quick responses are “urgently needed everywhere at any time.” The particular challenge for pharmaceutical products is that they are highly sensitive to temperature changes and exposure to ultraviolet light, he said.

Poor storage in the cool chain can also reduce potency of vaccines, “which leads to reduced immune responses and inadequate protection of the patient. Vaccines are precious and expensive, so the wrong handling cannot be accepted.”

The shipment of medicinal products based on vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and advanced therapies “will play an increasingly significant role in health care in the future,” he said. As an example, monoclonal antibodies will grow in market value from €15 billion (US$21.8 billion) today to €40 billion (US$58 billion) in the next five years. “To reach this level of growth, there are many scientific and technological challenges to overcome,” he said. “Continuous technical advances promise to develop potential new weapons against our oldest public health threats, as well as new ones, but also put a great pressure on manufacturers, regulatory authorities, and the wider medical community to ensure that products meet the highest standards of quality attainable. Globalization requires global temperature supply chains and cooperation with logistic providers around the world in order to be able to deliver pharmaceuticals wherever they are needed, when they are needed.”