What we have written on the cold chain136 / 154

Air limits for Category B specimens, coolant placement and record-keeping, taken from the WHO guidance and the APHL packing job aid.

In pathology, transport depends on whether the specimen is in formalin. A fixed specimen travels at room temperature, while fresh tissue is kept refrigerated until it is fixed.

Divide the invoice by kilograms weighed before use, not by quoted unit price. Compare delivery, return and packaging on the same basis.

Dry ice sublimates while it waits: about 2% an hour in a foam box, 14% for small paper-wrapped blocks. So the order is planned back from the loading hour and the waiting loss is added to the quantity.

One transport temperature does not fit all medicines. Link product information, route records, carrier roles and excursion handling.

A small paper-wrapped block loses 14 per cent of its mass per hour, pellets in a foam box 2 per cent. The life of a kilo is set by the container, piece size and outside temperature.

Power access, costs and product disposition may be unclear during a hold. Keep a timeline and confirm roles in writing.

Check product-specific lower limits and plan the route, waiting areas and in-load measurements together.

Do not rely on catalogue duration alone. Test for the vaccine, programme, openings, route and freeze risk.

The dry ice you need is the container's hourly consumption multiplied by the worst-case hours of the trip. Hourly consumption is found once by weighing, and it grows with surface area, not volume, as the container gets bigger.

GEKAP is paid by whoever places packaged goods on the market under its own name or brand, or imports them. Primary (sales) packaging is declared but not charged, exports are outside scope, and the 2026 amounts were set by Communiqué 2026/1.

When a store stops, the hold time is measured, the order of the first half hour is written down and so is the place the product moves to. Product holds many times more heat than the air in the same room, and that sets the time.