DHL completes TAPA certification for American facilities
DHL Express said today that all of its key North American facilities have now been certified by the Transported Asset Protection Association. The company said recent certifications completed at its Los Angeles and San Francisco gateways bring the number of DHL’s TAPA-certified facilities in North America to 20, including its US Express hub in Cincinnati, Ohio, and gateways in Miami, New York City and Toronto.
In the US, this includes facilities operated by its DHL Global Forwarding and EXEL Supply Chain business units.
DHL now has more than 150 TAPA-certified facilities across the world.
Certification involves a “rigorous and detailed” two-day audit of a facility’s security, carried out by TAPA-trained and accredited auditors, DHL said, and means a facility meets the highest standards for handling high-value and other commodities.
The process includes assessment of security measures, security training programs, access to shipment sorting zones, facility alarms, security reporting and other security requirements.
Adrian Whelan, senior vice president and head of Global Customs and Security for DHL Express, said security was of “utmost importance” to customers, regulators and to DHL as a company, which he added was continually looking for ways to provide the highest level of security.
Whelan said: “Knowing that every one of our key locations has met the rigorous requirements for TAPA certification assures our customers that DHL Express maintains the highest levels of security within the supply chain.”
DHL has been working with TAPA, an association of high-tech and other companies promoting security standards in the shipping and air cargo industry, since its inception in 1998.
Alan Spear, chairman of TAPA Americas, said: “It is TAPA members such as DHL that take the security standards and methodologies and turns them into real-world best practices. DHL’s commitment to the security standards demanded by shippers is evident by the company having brought so many of its sites successfully through the certification process.”
