IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh · Air cargo excellence
IATA CEIV Pharma and CEIV Fresh certification readiness for air cargo that must arrive as it was shipped.
Medicines and perishables lose their value the moment temperature or handling slips. Sterling's expert and experienced consultants build the quality system, procedures and training behind CEIV and prepare your team for IATA's assessment, in 60+ countries. We ensure successful certification for our clients.
- Fixed scope, one proposal: consulting, Effivity software, Sterling Academy access and internal auditor training, as applicable to your standard, in one proposal
- A team of expert and experienced quality and cold-chain consultants, supporting pharmaceutical and food supply chains since 2003
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. Sterling does not certify; certification follows IATA's CEIV programme
8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries.
Why cold-chain clients choose Sterling
What it is
What are IATA CEIV Pharma and CEIV Fresh?
CEIV Pharma and CEIV Fresh are certification programmes run by IATA for the air cargo supply chain. CEIV Pharma addresses the handling of pharmaceutical products, and CEIV Fresh addresses perishables. Both sit within IATA's special cargo certification services, and IATA publishes a list of its certification clients.
IATA marked ten years of CEIV in April 2025. In March 2024 IATA and Pharma.Aero announced a collaboration to strengthen the CEIV Pharma programme. IATA also runs refresher courses for key personnel under both programmes.
Current status. IATA sets the programme requirements and updates them from time to time. We confirm the current CEIV Pharma or CEIV Fresh requirements and assessment steps with IATA when your engagement starts.
Who it is for
Who needs CEIV certification?
CEIV is usually requested by the people whose products are on board. We see three starting points:
- A pharmaceutical or food shipper asks for it. The customer wants proof that its products are handled to a recognised standard at every step of the air leg.
- An airport or hub builds a cold-chain community. Several operators at one location aim to certify so the whole route can be offered to shippers.
- Temperature excursions or losses keep recurring. Claims and complaints show that handling depends on individuals rather than a controlled process.
Requirements
What does CEIV Pharma or CEIV Fresh require?
IATA sets the CEIV requirements and the assessment process for each programme. We have not reproduced IATA's structure here; the list shows what Sterling's work covers, checked against IATA's current requirements during your programme.
- Quality management system: responsibilities, document control, risk management and management review for the cargo operation.
- Temperature control and monitoring: set points, monitoring, alarms and what happens when an excursion occurs.
- Facilities and equipment: cold rooms, ramp equipment and their maintenance and calibration records.
- Handling procedures: acceptance, storage, build-up, ramp transfer and delivery, written for the people who do the work.
- Training and competence: role-based training, key personnel and records that prove competence.
- Internal audit and corrective action: findings, deviations and complaints closed with the cause addressed.
What does useful CEIV evidence look like?
Temperature records with alarms and responses, excursion investigations, cold-room maintenance and calibration logs, handling procedures with version control, training records for every handler and internal audit reports with closed actions. We help you produce these as part of the shift, not as a file built for the assessor.
Your engagement
What your IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh engagement includes
Route: certification under IATA's CEIV programme. Choose one of two support levels under Sterling OS™: Design™ (guided), where your team does the work with our method and reviews, or Drive™ (managed), where our consultants carry more of it. Sustain™ keeps the system running after certification; Automate™ is Effivity.
Scope and gap assessment
The programme, stations and activities in scope, assessed against IATA's current requirements.
Quality system and procedures
Built with your operations team on Sterling's own template sets.
Effivity ISO & GRC software
Documents, deviations, audits, training and equipment records in one place, included with the engagement at no additional cost.
Training for your people
Internal auditor training, as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.
Internal audit and management review
Conducted or facilitated as agreed, with findings closed before the assessment.
Certification readiness and support
Preparation for IATA's assessment and support until certification is granted.
Sterling does not certify, validate or assess on behalf of IATA and issues no CEIV certificate; IATA's programme carries out the assessment and makes the decision.
Often combined with
Standards organisations pair with IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh
- AEOAuthorised Economic Operator (AEO) readiness: what customs examines, who can apply and how Sterling prepares your controls and evidence for the customs visit.
- BRCGS Storage and Distribution · Agents and BrokersBRCGS Storage and Distribution certification and Agents and Brokers: Issue 4 and Issue 3 requirements, scopes, audits and cost factors, with Sterling's support.
- C-TPATC-TPAT requirements and validation readiness for US importers and overseas suppliers: the Minimum Security Criteria, CBP's process and how Sterling helps.
- CBAMCBAM compliance and requirements explained: authorised declarant status, the 50-tonne threshold, verified embedded emissions and how Sterling helps you prepare.
- EcoVadisEcoVadis rating consulting: evidence on environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement, prepared for the assessment EcoVadis runs.
- EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)EUDR compliance and requirements for cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya and wood: due diligence, risk assessment and the 30 December 2026 date.
Effivity · ISO and GRC software, included in every engagement
How Effivity helps you run, automate and simplify a CEIV quality system.
Every Sterling IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh engagement includes Effivity, the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Your consultant sets up the workspace within the agreed scope, so procedures, temperature deviations, equipment records, training, internal audits and management review sit together, and the quality system runs in daily cargo work rather than in a binder. Sterling consulting clients get their Effivity subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
Stations, products and activities
Each station and handling activity in scope, with its owner.
Cold-chain risk assessment
Risks by process and product type, with controls and review dates.
Handling procedures
Versions, approvals and distribution, so every shift uses the current procedure.
Training and key personnel
Role-based training records and refresher dates, linked to Sterling Academy.
Cold rooms, maintenance and calibration
Schedules, results and overdue items visible to the station manager.
Temperature excursions and complaints
Logged, investigated and closed with the cause found and the change made.
Internal audit and management review
Audit programmes, findings and review decisions recorded in one place.
Your own forms and reports
Checklists, workflows and reports shaped to your operation, without code.
What this means at the CEIV assessment
The assessor asks for the procedures, the excursion records, the equipment logs, the training evidence and the internal audit results. In Effivity each of those is a screen with dates, owners and evidence attached. After certification, Sustain™ runs in the same workspace, so the next review finds a system that kept working.
In your engagement
- Subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost
- Set up by your Sterling consultant within the agreed scope
- Existing records and registers migrated, not retyped
- Admin and user training for your team
- Modules for QMS, FSMS, OHSMS and more when you integrate other standards
Sterling Academy · e-learning for cargo teams
Help every handler understand why a few minutes on the ramp matter.
Sterling Academy provides e-learning for whole teams and for the people who run the system: video lessons, practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner, verifiable online. Sterling consulting clients receive preferential Sterling Academy course access and special pricing through their Sterling consultant, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
- Quality and cold-chain awareness for every handler, with completion records
- Internal auditor training for the people who will audit the system, as applicable to your standard, as part of the engagement
- Progress by station and a training status report for management
- New starters trained as they join, so records stay current
- A Sterling consultant available when a learner has a question
Keep exploring
Explore more about IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh
CEIV resources
Services for IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh
Why Sterling
Why choose Sterling for IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh?
Cold-chain failures rarely come from one big mistake; they come from small gaps between acceptance, storage and the ramp. Sterling builds a quality system around those handovers, so every shift works the same way and the records show it.
60+ countries since 2003
Management system consulting across sectors and regions, with offices in 21 countries and one engagement team accountable across your stations.
All-inclusive proposal
Consulting, Effivity, training and Academy access in one proposal, with programme and assessment fees identified separately. No surprises, ever.
A system handlers actually use
Short procedures, practical training and records captured during the work, so quality becomes part of the shift.
Expert and experienced consultants
Consultants who have built quality systems for pharmaceutical, food and logistics clients since 2003.
The Sterling Promise
What the Sterling Promise means for IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh
We stay with you until your agreed CEIV certification outcome is achieved, supporting implementation, preparation and the resolution of assessment findings. Clear explanations, practical delivery, included software and employee learning leave you with a quality system that lasts.
The engagement identifies the programme, scope, outcome and responsibilities. Your organisation supplies accurate information and puts the agreed controls into use. IATA's programme assesses conformity and retains its certification decision. Our commitment concerns the agreed certification support, not a promise that no excursion or loss will ever occur.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions about IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh
What is the difference between CEIV Pharma and CEIV Fresh?
CEIV Pharma covers the handling of pharmaceutical products, while CEIV Fresh covers perishables such as food. Both are IATA programmes for air cargo, and an operation handling both kinds of cargo may pursue both.
Who issues CEIV certification?
IATA runs the CEIV programmes and makes the certification decision. Sterling does not certify; we prepare your quality system, people and evidence for IATA's assessment.
Is CEIV Pharma the same as GDP?
No. Good distribution practice for medicines is set by regulators, while CEIV Pharma is an industry certification run by IATA. A working GDP system is a useful foundation, and we check how your existing controls map to the CEIV requirements before planning.
Keep exploring
More on IATA CEIV Pharma / Fresh and related standards
More in Supply chain, logistics & customs
Talk to a consultant
Plan your IATA CEIV certification with confidence.
Tell us about your stations, the cargo you handle and your customer deadline. We’ll help you define the scope, timeline and next steps.
hello@sterling-grc.com+1 201 263 4443 (global headquarters) · your nearest office and its number are at the top of this page
What would you like to achieve?
Choose a starting point. The enquiry form takes about a minute.
Book my free discovery callContinue to the enquiry form to share your details. Please do not include passwords, sensitive personal information or confidential files. A Sterling consultant replies within one working day. Privacy notice