Puerto Rico Life Sciences Air Cargo Community launches

The Puerto Rico Life Sciences Air Cargo Community , which aims to improve practices for temperature-controlled exports , was unveiled to the public today at the Air Cargo Europe conference in Munich. Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers joined the first meeting of the community last week and will be represented on the board, along with airlines, airports, ground handlers, haulers, forwarders and integrators. More than 30 organizations have committed to the community. “The major airfreight, pharmaceutical and medical device companies in Puerto Rico want to improve the quality of life-science air logistics, benefit from setting operational standards and showcase the attractiveness of Puerto Rico’s airfreight market to the international airfreight industry,” Jonas Van Stekelenburg , adviser at the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DEDC), told Air Cargo Next . Lion’s share of island’s exports Puerto Rico is the No. 1 bioscience manufacturing hub in the United States by export volume. Twelve of the world’s 20 top-grossing pharmaceutical companies, including Johnson & Johnson , Amgen and AbbVie , operate on the island, with eight of the 15 globally top-selling biopharmaceutical products manufactured in Puerto Rico, according to the DEDC. Twelve out of the top 20 medical device companies have manufacturing sites on the island, including Medtronic , CooperVision and Boston Scientific . The life-sciences air and sea cargo industry in Puerto Rico earned nearly $60 billion in 2022, DEDC Business Development Officer David Perez-Larson told Air Cargo Next . “Moreover, there was imports and there was domestic, i.e., to and from other U.S. states, inbound and outbound transport,” Perez-Larson said. “So, all in all, big numbers.” Puerto Rico is designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as an international air transshipment hub, which allows for unencumbered transshipment at the island’s three international airports: Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU), Mercedita International Airport (PSE) and Rafael Hernandez International Airport (BQN). [caption id="attachment_57135899" align="alignright" width="225"] From left are DEDC adviser Jonas van Stekelenburg, DEDC Business Development Officer David Perez-Larson and ViEMS Consulting CEO Kurt Schosinsky. (Photo/Meantime Communications)[/caption] “Puerto Rico did in 2022 approximately [270,000 tonnes] of airfreight,” Kurt Schosinsky , chief executive and founder of ViEMS Consulting , told Air Cargo Next . “Up to 85% of export is life science.” The life-sciences industry began on the island 50 years ago, supported by tax breaks, according to Van Stekelenburg. “Nowadays, the tax is more or less comparable with other places in the United States, and Puerto Rico is a competitive place for life sciences because of the well-trained, highly adaptable, bilingual workforce and decades of experience in manufacturing life sciences,” he said. “We see that companies are attracted to the island because of the life science ecosystem, [which] functions as a very sophisticated cluster of science, of commercial manufacturing companies and of life-science institutions.” Certification, lobbying efforts There is no cost for life-science or airfreight companies to join the community, which will meet twice a year. “The first step taken by the parties involved is to pursue a joint IATA CEIV certification for pharmaceutical air logistics,” Van Stekelenburg said. One-third of the community’s members already have CEIV-pharma certification, and another third are currently working toward certification, he said. “The participating community members are working together to identify the common challenges they face in airfreight operations and how to address them as a group,” Van Stekelenburg said. Issues being addressed include: Raising awareness of Puerto Rico’s life-science and logistics industries; The lack of data on air cargo capacity and volume to and from Puerto Rico; and Infrastructure improvement challenges. “We are lobbying for various issues that are beyond the control of the logistics industry, such as the road infrastructure to and from airports, FAA investments in Puerto Rico’s airport infrastructure, appropriate TSA regulations for effective airport management and more,” Van Stekelenburg said. “The community is listing all challenges and determining what they can tackle together.”

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