Home > Industrial Services  > Systems Certification  > Shipping & Logistics  > Cool Chain Quality  Whatever it is that you eat - it wouldn't be quite the same without a reliable cool chain. The prerequisite for juicy fruits and vegetables, for tasty milk- and dairy-products, for fresh fish, seafood and meat is an uninterrupted maintenance of a suitable temperature during handling, transport and storage - that's what we call a reliable Cool Chain.

And there are more perishable and temperature sensitive products (PTSP) that need special attention: flowers and plants, some chemicals, pharmaceuticals and human blood.

In order to provide a quality measure for first class PTSP logistics companies, a group of cool chain quality people - representatives from very different companies like airlines, truck-operators, warehouses, forwarders and handlers - formed the Cool Chain Association (CCA) in January 2003. Having expert knowledge in PTSP logistics, CCA was then looking for a reliable partner to contribute the know-how on certification systems.

So jointly, CCA and GL-Certification (GLC) formed and developed what is today the CCQI Industry Standard.

Your Benefits

The CCQI standard incorporates a quality measure - the CCQI points. This quality indicator is derived from a risk-based approach and makes

• a comparison between the quality of similar operations of different companies and
• a change over time in company proficiency

quantifyable.

Written and implemented by cool chain experts and practitioners from around the world this standard provides an immediate benefit to quality minded enterprises by stating and weighing what state-of-the-art means in cool chain logistics today.
And using an external auditing and certification by GLC, this quality attitude becomes directly displayable, provable.

For your customers to choose you, for you choosing subcontractors, there is a well defined criteria: CCQI.

Certification

The CCQI Standard incorporates two measures for quality:

• a check for conformity with state-of-the-art practice to follow, and
• a quantitative evaluation that provides an indicator - the CCQI points - for cool chain quality.

The first measure simply checks that all basic requirements for an operation are fulfilled. That could be that a truck is equipped with a suitable refrigeration device or that a handler provides appropriate training to its company's staff.

The second measure gives a quantitative indication of the effort made to reduce cargo from being damaged by temperature deviations. Measures taken to control this risk are awarded with points, the sum of all points is the respective CCQI point number of that operation which will be compared with a given benchmark and is marked on the CCQI certificate.

The measurement criteria differ to some extent between and are tailored to individual operational links like

• Apron Handling at Airport,
• Long Term Storage,
• Short Term Storage & Distribution,
• Truck & Trailer Transport, and
• Aircraft Transport.

Assessment Criteria for Ocean Transport and Seaport & Terminal Handling are to follow.

The main criteria for the assessment of quality in cool chains is proficiency in temperature control. Both measures of the CCQI standard concentrate on the effort of a company to ensure the continuous maintenance of a predefined temperature or temperature band.

Read more about the certification process.

Qualification Prerequisits

CCA members taking an active part in a cool chain that employ own - or long term rented - hardware may apply for a CCQI certificate.

Get in Contact!

GLC is the Management Certification branch of Germanischer Lloyd. We assess quality, environment and safety management systems in the manufacturing and service industries.

Interested in the CCQI Industry Standard? Get in contact with us!

 

Related Documents

• Brochure: Reliable quality for cool chains (PDF, 250 KB)

Related Topics

• CCQI Hamburg Committee – CCA Member Access
  (Username and Password required)

• Perishable Goods acc. IATA

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