Panalpina Adelantex in Belgium has received a bio certification from Certisys, marking the sixth time a Panalpina unit has been certified for the handling of organic produce and reinforcing the company’s position as a leading service provider in the perishables arena.
Panalpina now has six locations in Europe that are licensed for the handling of organic produce: Brussels and Liège in Belgium, Luxembourg, and London Heathrow Airport in the UK are certified by Certisys; Amsterdam in the Netherlands is certified by SKAL; and Kelsterbach in Germany has an external bio certification and an IFS Food Standard certification.
The Certysis bio certification is awarded after a series of audits and covers customs clearance as well as product handling and is now a requirement to clear perishables through customs in Belgium without breaking the bio or organic chain.
“The certification is another guarantee to our customers worldwide that their fresh produce is safely steered through the Panalpina Perishables Network on the way to its final destination, all while maintaining the integrity of the bio products during the documentation and handling process,” says Robert Verbaenen from Panalpina Adelantex.
The organic label
Certisys is accredited by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as a certification body.
The FAO identifies certified organic products as those which have been produced, stored, processed, handled and marketed in accordance with precise technical specifications and standards and certified as "organic" by a certification body such as Certisys.
This label can be taken as an assurance that the essential elements constituting an organic product have been met from the farm to the market, and Panalpina can now safeguard this conformity with organic standards for imports through Belgium.
Panalpina Adelantex
Adelantex in Belgium was acquired by Panalpina in December 2017, expanding the Panalpina Perishables Network in Europe and the company’s global end-to-end offering for fresh produce.
Panalpina Adelantex, as it is now called, handles air freight imports and manages ground handling at Brussels Airport, customs clearance and the onward distribution in Europe.
The vast majority of perishables imported by Panalpina Adelantex come into Europe through Brussels Airport where it operates a warehouse directly on the tarmac with 1,600 m2 of cold storage. A quarter of the overall volumes Panalpina Adelantex imports arrive via Liège Airport and Ostend Airport.
Panalpina Adelantex’ ground handling operations in Brussels are best in class and serve as a blueprint for similar operations in other countries.
During the 11th Brussels Airport Aviation Awards Back in February, Panalpina came out winner in the new category of logistics provider award, which was devised to reward the best logistics service provider in terms of growth or further development of its activities. Panalpina took the prize for doubling its warehouse capacity, digitizing its services and investing in the transport of perishable goods.
