İKMİB Signs Cooperation Protocol
The Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association (İKMİB), which carries out various activities for its member companies to increase exports in the chemical sector—Turkey's second-largest exporting sector—and to reach different markets, has signed a cooperation protocol on "Dangerous Goods Transport and Training" with UPS and Turkish Airlines Aviation Academy.
Under the scope of the cooperation, companies that are members of İKMİB will be able to send samples by obtaining the required IATA certification training for shipments of chemical products classified as dangerous goods.
It is expected that the cooperation undertaken will accelerate fast exports conducted with ETGB (Electronic Commerce Customs Declaration) and boost small packet exports.
In addition, the first 100 representatives of İKMİB members who apply for training will receive a 50 percent discount on training fees.
Turkish Exporters Council (TİM) Chairman İsmail Gülle,
"Our Chemical Substances sector, which closed 2018 with record growth, continues its record performance in the first 8 months of 2019 as the second-largest exporting sector.
The most sustainable way to continue this performance is to minimize the bureaucratic barriers our exporters face in logistics processes.
The protocol on "Dangerous Goods Transport and Training" signed today between İKMİB, our pride Turkish Airlines, and UPS, one of the world's largest transport companies, will fill an important gap in coordinating the services they will provide to our exporters and in closing the knowledge and training deficiencies of our companies in this field.
Particularly in dangerous goods exports, enabling samples to be sent more quickly and securely in digital environments and obtaining relevant certificates represents a significant step forward.
Enabling our exporters in every sector to access correct and qualified information as quickly as possible will provide significant momentum to our global presence.
As TİM, we are moving foreign trade data related to target markets, potential customer information, country-specific product dynamics, and information on standardization and certification to platforms in digital environments from which our exporters can obtain everything with a single touch.
Access to markets with distance perception like the USA created serious opportunity costs in terms of sample sending periods and expenses.
The know-how to be provided to relevant personnel through training aims to minimize the time constraint, which is one of the most important difficulties in the rapid growth of the sector and access to markets.
The fact that İKMİB will cover half of the fees for the first 100 representatives of applicant companies is also an extremely encouraging practice for our exporters." he stated, expressing his views.
İKMİB Board Chairman Adil Pelister:
"Our companies, which export chemical substances and products in 16 sub-sectors of chemistry to all corners of the world, need to send samples to develop their export network with current and potential markets.
Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) certification is required to conduct transfer operations in the context of transmitting samples of products that are part of chemistry exports and most of which fall into the dangerous goods category.
As İKMİB, to solve this problem experienced in sample sending—which is a process that directly affects exports and is important for companies to increase their exports—we are cooperating with Turkish Airlines Aviation Academy, which is an expert in Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) certification training, and UPS, which serves in our country in the field of international dangerous goods transport.
With approximately 6,000 active members out of a total of 12,000 members taking part in IATA certification training, we aim to remove another obstacle in front of exports by taking advantage of this service provided by UPS.
In line with the decision we made in the Board of Directors, 50 percent of the training fee for the first 100 representatives of our member companies who apply for IATA training will be covered by our Association." he stated.
Within the scope of the cooperation, Turkish Airlines Aviation Academy will provide training on procedures and principles related to Basic and Refresher Training on Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR / Category 1,2,3,6) to companies that are members of İKMİB.
Participants who successfully complete the training will hold IATA and DGCA (Dangerous Goods and Combined Transport Regulation General Directorate) approved certification.
UPS, through its International Dangerous Goods (IDG) expansion program, has taken an important step for Turkey's chemical sector by transitioning from exceptional quantity (EQ) shipments currently possible in Turkey to declaration-limited quantity (LQ) and passenger aircraft level (PAX) transport.
This has made it possible to send samples and export chemical substances that were previously impossible to transport or could not be transported in quantity to appropriate countries.
With the UPS IDG service, appropriate shipments can be exported provided that the shipping company has an IATA-certified employee. Companies with IATA-certified employees can also receive export and practical training from DG Academy.
UPS Turkey will be able to accept samples and export shipments from Istanbul, Bursa, Kocaeli, Tekirdağ, Ankara and Izmir at exceptional, limited quantity, and passenger aircraft levels. Shipments received from these cities can thus be delivered quickly to their overseas delivery addresses through Express transport.
