Colombia: Panalpina Bogotá obtains GDP certification

Panalpina Bogotá has been certified according to WHO Good Distribution Practice (GDP), an important international standard for the proper distribution of medicinal products for human use. The business unit in Bogotá is Panalpina's 31^st location globally to obtain such an important certification for the healthcare industry.

Panalpina’s business unit in Bogotá, Colombia, has successfully completed a two-day audit by the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company SGS, and is now certified according to international WHO Good Distribution Practice (GDP). “We are proud about this achievement, and this is great news for our healthcare customers who demand strict quality and temperature control measures in the supply chain to ensure the safety and integrity of their products,” says Angelo Dotto, Panalpina’s managing director for Colombia.

Colombia’s pharmaceutical market and the role of Bogotá

Colombia is Latin America’s fourth largest pharmaceutical market after Brazil, Mexico and Panama. Most of the major international pharmaceutical companies do business in the country with a population of 48 million people. Among the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in terms of revenue, there are also a handful of Colombian players with a domestic production, mainly of generic medicinal products, and the country's biodiversity is seen as a chance to develop pharmaceutical products from natural substances. 82 percent of Colombia’s pharmaceutical imports and 47 percent of the pharmaceutical exports run through the Bogotá region.

Panalpina in Colombia

Panalpina entered the Colombian market in 1962 and today has own offices in Bogotá (head office), Medellín, Cali, Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Pereira, as well as an agent office in Buenaventura. The company provides many of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies with international air and ocean freight as well as value-added logistics services. “We see great growth potential in this business area, considering that the growth rate of this industry in Colombia is five percent per year,” comments Dotto.

Notes to the editor:

Panalpina realizes that maintaining product quality and safety of pharmaceuticals in the supply chain is highly critical. In line with this, the company has taken strong initiatives to exceed the expectations of healthcare customers. Many pharmaceutical companies require that business units that handle their products are certified according to Good Distribution Practice (GDP), a set of guidelines for the proper distribution of medicinal products for human use. Today, Panalpina has a global coverage of GDP-compliant locations. 31 of the locations are GDP-certified and this number is on the increase. The GDP quality assurance standard includes stringent requirements for the handling, storage and distribution of pharmaceuticals.