Of WFS’ 14 dedicated pharma facilities, those in Cape Town, Copenhagen, Cork, Dublin, Johannesburg, London and Paris CDG have already been awarded GDP certification. Several more (Amsterdam, Bangkok, Brussels and Frankfurt) are in the process of obtaining the certification. A number of these stations are also IATA CEIV Pharma accredited.
GDP certification is awarded following a rigorous independent audit to confirm temperature management capabilities, as well as the suitability of its auditing processes, risk assessment and corrective/preventive measures. The GDP accreditation provides WFS customers with a guarantee that temperature-controlled pharmaceutical products are consistently stored, transported and handled under the product-specific conditions required.
Humberto Castro, WFS’ Managing Director – Cargo, Spain, said: “As the world’s leading air cargo handler, WFS is already at the forefront of best-practice for pharma shipments in terms of compliance and our ability to safeguard product integrity. Now that our Madrid and Barcelona stations have both GDP and IATA CEIV certifications, customers have the added assurance that we meet the highest global standards for handling air cargo shipments of pharmaceuticals.”
WFS stations in Barcelona and Madrid have approximately 640 square metres and 450 square metres of landside and airside acceptance capability respectively. The two stations currently handle over 8,600 tonnes of temperature-controlled pharma shipments a year for six main airline customers, for products needing to be stored between 2°C to 8°C and 15°C to 25°C.