The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Animal Transport Association (ATA) to encourage industry adoption of IATA’s CEIV Live Animals Certification, during the recent ATA 49th Annual Conference in Budapest on July 10th.

Under the MoU, ATA will encourage its members to pursue attainment of the CEIV Live Animals certification program, which establishes baseline standards protecting animal welfare in handling and transport. ATA will also encourage its members to form CEIV Certified communities.

At the same time, ATA and IATA will collaborate to ensure ATA members are aligned with the CEIV Live Program requirements. The organizations also said they will jointly work to improve the handling and transport of animals worldwide and ensure access to training for stakeholders in the cargo community, though no further details have yet been determined.

Greater implementation of the CEIV Live Animal process will “result in better collaboration between supply chain members,” said Filip Vande Cappelle, president of ATA. In effect, this will set a common standard in the industry, which will ultimately support considerable cost saving for participants in the program.

IATA initially launched its CEIV Live Animal program last April, after working on its development with the London Heathrow Animal Reception Center (HARC) and Air Canada Cargo — Air Canada Cargo was the first company to obtain the certification, last August.

Source: : Air Cargo World / Air Cargo Week