DHL, the world's leading logistics company, announced their Chicago (ORD), San Juan (SJU) and Toronto (YYZ) stations have been accredited as Qualified Envirotainer Providers (QEP). All three stations met the requirements of a five-step process, to earn the Envirotainer accreditation. Over 60 employees in the three stations combined, received professional Envirotainer training, required for accreditation.' As the largest forwarder of Envirotainer containers - manufactured air cargo containers used for temperature sensitive shipments - DHL Global Forwarding is an industry leader in this specialized service area.

For over a decade, the ORD and SJU stations have been responsible for transporting Life Science and Healthcare industry medications for more than 10 of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, with most shipments imported and exported to Europe and South America. The ORD station currently processes over 650 import and export Envirotainer shipments per year, while SJU processes approximately 300 shipments.

'This accreditation provides customers with a high degree of assurance that their shipments are being transported following the policies, processes, procedures and instructions required under the QEP Program,' said Brian Lindholm, CEO DHL Global Forwarding North America. 'This is a very exciting time planning, in a phased approach, the addition of state-of-the-art equipment and procedures that will help continue to deliver the excellent customer service this sector requires.'

With close to 40 years serving the Life Sciences industry, the YYZ station is the first station in Canada to receive QEP accreditation. Having been previously accredited, the YYZ station is receiving reaccreditation under the QEP's new criteria. The station is currently working on special customer standard operating procedure (SOP) tools, in an effort to further develop its Life Sciences Program.

'With our established systems and team of trained professionals, we are equipped to serve pharmaceutical companies both importing and exporting to some of the largest markets including: Europe, China, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand,' said Laura Ackermann global head of Life Sciences Operations for DHL Global Forwarding. 'Our customers can be sure their life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical equipment are secure and arrive to their destination intact.'

Envirotainer, pioneers of active temperature-controlled air cargo containers, launched its QEP/CEP Training and Quality Program at the request of shippers of healthcare products, and in response to industry guidance. To better serve their customers, the Program works with service providers equipped to properly manage shipments using Envirotainer containers.' By doing so, providers meet the requirements defined in the current Good Distribution Practices (GDP) guidance documents, which include the requirements of the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Currently, DHL Global Forwarding has more than 20 Life Science Competence Centers worldwide, with an expected opening of close to 10 more by the end of 2011. DHL's Life Science Competence Centers have export and import temperature controlled warehouses (+15' to +25' Celsius and +2' to +8' Celsius), real time temperature monitoring, temperature data storage, Life Science dedicated personnel, and customer specific solutions, among other benefits. These Centers provide cool chain solutions and Envirotainer shipments globally.