Jan de Rijk earns CEIV Pharma certification

Dutch trucking and logistics firm Jan de Rijk Logistics has become one of the first supply chain services companies to earn the new “CEIV Pharma” certification for its ability to handle pharmaceuticals safely.

The certification, awarded by IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV), is used to designate cargo handlers that have demonstrated the best possible protocols to handle temperature sensitive pharmaceutical and life-sciences materials, and that possess adequate equipment, storage facilities and knowledge of the pharma-handling business.

“We are already GDP-certified, and we believe that with this certification we will only strengthen more our pharma capabilities,” said Jan de Rijk CEO Sebastiaan Scholte, who is also chairman of the Cool Chain Association (CCA). “In the CCA, we have advocated the need for common standards for some time now. The shippers want more transparency and common standards. We believe that the CEIV program is a step in the right direction to achieve this. We therefore also hope that more companies will follow soon.”

To earn a CEIV Pharma cert, a company must submit to a series of on-site assessments, implementation planning, training programs and validation. Earlier this year, Brussels Airport became the first CEIV Pharma-certified cargo-handling “community” in this program.

Jan de Rijk Logistics provides transportation, distribution, warehousing and home-delivery services across 15 countries in Europe, operating a fleet 600 vehicles.