Tag: Logistics

Air Freight

Compliance to Regulations is Critical – Amazon Fined £65,000 for Shipping Dangerous Goods

The news today that Amazon has been fined £65,000 for shipping dangerous goods highlights just how critical it is that companies remain aware of the relevant regulations associated with any shipments they organise or undertake, and that all cargo is compliant to those regulations.

The case against Amazon was made by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in relation to the Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 2002 and relates specifically to Amazon’s attempts to ship both lithium-ion batteries and flammable aerosols on flights in and outside of the UK between November 2013 and June 2015. These items are included in international and domestic restrictions due to their potential to become a flight safety risk.

It is important to remain aware of changes to all regulations relevant to your cargo, to ensure that shipments remain compliant at all times. A change relevant to this case happened as recently as February 2016, when the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) banned shipments of Lithium-ion batteries as cargo on passenger planes.

The barrister acting on behalf of Amazon, Stephen Spence, told the court that the issue was caused by “misclassification” of items due to “individual human error”. This only highlights how crucial it is that every single member of a company’s team is aware of the regulations and how to ensure all shipments remain compliant.

Compliance to regulations is absolutely critical in our industry, especially when noncompliance can have potentially catastrophic consequences, such as in the case of lithium-ion batteries which could overheat, causing burns, fire, and even explosions. Ensuring that products are classified, packaged, and labelled with the correct documentation is paramount. If in doubt, check, check and double check.

If you want to know more about the Amazon case, this article in the Financial Times provides a lot of detail. And if you want to know more about regulations specific to shipments of lithium-ion batteries, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have produced a range of resources covering everything you need to know.

Finally, if you need help assessing your own supply chain for compliance, please get in touch with us to discuss your needs.

 

FlyPharma Conference 2016, Brussels

Henry Moran, our Chief Operating Officer, spoke at the FlyPharma Conference in June. Here he shares his experience of the conference and explains why networking is such an important part of what we do.

I’m just back after a quick trip over to Brussels to present at the recent FlyPharma conference, where I gave a presentation on Supply Chain Security in the Life Science sector.

I really believe that the Life Science sector is very focused on Temperature Management within the supply chain, but to be honest security is as important, if not more.

FlyPharma is a relatively new conference forum and ASC have had the pleasure and honour of presenting at both the 2015 and now 2016 events. The conference brings together experts from the air freight industry, so it is really good to see airlines, ground handlers and freight forwarders all in the same environment, openly discussing and debating Life Science logistics.

However, it would be really great to get some more representation from the Pharma manufacturers community, so they can see how the logistics industry is embracing the challenge.

What I really like about FlyPharma is the fact that it is focused – i.e. it’s not too big. There is plenty of opportunity to network, meet old friends and colleagues, and make new ones. It’s great to hear that the plans are afoot for the 2017 conference already – perhaps we’ll see you there!

Here at ASC we believe that networking within the sector is really valuable to the work we do – it enables us to stay up-to-date with the latest developments and be at the forefront of any changes made. Alongside attending conferences we also regularly share information and news stories on our LinkedIn Pages – why not connect with us over there?

Follow Henry Moran on LinkedIn
Follow Amy Shortman on LinkedIn

ASC Oct 2015

Cluster 4 Logistics Luxembourg 21st Oct 2015

On the 21st October ASC visited the beautiful city of Luxembourg. We were fortunate enough to be taken on a tour of the airports GDP Compliant cargo facility which was given by Frank Borkam from Luxair. I was incredibly impressed with the TAPA approved facilities and their temperature control capabilities.

The Autumn event was focusing on compliance and security, with industry speakers ranging from packaging innovators, insurance experts and supply chain experts from the logistics industry.

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Photos by www.delano.lu