All Nippon Airways (ANA) has received the International Air Transportation Association (IATA)'s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) Fresh certification, a global standard for perishable product transportation.

ANA said in a statement that its quality management system, including personnel, training, quality control and handling manuals, was approved by IATA to receive the certification.

"All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan's largest and 5-Star airline for ten consecutive years, became the first Japanese airline to receive the CEIV Fresh certification," the announcement said.

ANA said the international quality certification, established by the IATA, recognized ANA on July 3, 2023, for its excellence in the transportation of perishable products.

IATA developed the CEIV Fresh Certification to recognize companies and organizations involved in air transportation for the proper handling of perishable food products.

It aims to minimize product damage and waste caused by environmental factors, such as temperature changes during handling and transportation.

"Deliver consistent and high quality to our customers across our operations is crucial to ANA's core business values," said Kenichi Wakiya, executive vice president of ANA and president of ANA Cargo.

"This recognition from IATA reaffirms ANA's commitment to upholding high standards in handling, training and quality control of goods transportation. We remain committed to surpassing quality expectations and continuously improving our transportation processes," he added.

Nick Careen, senior vice president for operations, safety and security at IATA congratulated ANA for achieving CEIV Fresh certification.

"Given the sensitive nature of perishables, maintaining product integrity requires exceptional standards. With ANA's certification, shippers can rest assured that their cold-chain logistics needs are handled with the utmost care, further bolstering Japan's goals of escalating agricultural, forestry, and fishery exports," Careen said.

CEIV Fresh Certification is based on the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) food safety control list, the IATA Perishable Cargo Regulations (PCR), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) international standard for food safety management Systems 22000:2018, and other standards related to fresh food.

ANA noted that this certification would help boost Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries set target to increase exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to 2 trillion yen in 2025 and 5 trillion yen in 2030.

The target requires selecting transportation operators who maintain freshness through a high-quality control system.

"ANA's quality control system at Tokyo Haneda Airport, encompassing personnel, training, quality control and handling manuals for transporting perishable goods, was recognized by IATA, leading to certification," the Japanese carrier said.

It added that by elevating the quality of food transportation within the supply chain through lead-time reduction and temperature control, it is possible to contribute to the reduction of food loss (food waste).

In 2017, ANA also achieved another global certification milestone, becoming the first Japanese airline to receive CEIV Pharma certification, a quality certification for pharmaceutical transportation established by IATA.

ANA said it remains focused on expanding its transportation services and enhancing quality to its customers.