San Francisco Branch Receives TAPA Certification

On December 9, 2004, the San Francisco Air Cargo and Ocean Cargo Branch of Nippon Express U.S.A., Inc. (NEU; Tadaaki Hashimoto, President), Nippon Express' largest subsidiary in the US, was awarded TAPA Class A certification, the fourth NEU branch to be so certified. This success can be attributed to the security and safety upgrades made when the offices and warehouse facilities of the San Francisco Air Cargo Branch and the San Francisco Ocean Cargo Branch were consolidated in April 2004. Nippon Express is the first Japanese forwarder in the area to receive this certification.

TAPA is the acronym for the Technology Asset Protection Association, a non-profit association of security professionals and security managers at high-tech and household appliance companies that was founded in the US in 1997. The standards established by TAPA are also used to improve the level of safety in the transport industry, and they are regarded worldwide as the premier guidelines for practical security and safety methodology. TAPA offers three levels of certification with increasingly strict requirements from Class C to Class A, the class awarded to the San Francisco Branch.

At present, ten locations within the Nippon Express Group have earned TAPA certification. Given the increasing traffic in hi-tech cargo, the globalization of manufacturing operations and the growing sophistication of manufacturers' logistics needs, customer companies in recent years have stressed "safety" and "security" when selecting forwarders for international shipments. Working to improve the quality of its transport systems, the Nippon Express Group will seek TAPA certification for more of its facilities worldwide as it continues providing high quality service.