The Department of Defense invited FedEx Express on Sunday to make a second flight for Operation Fly Formula and deliver another tranche of Nestle baby formula from Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany to the U.S. as the Biden administration seeks to end the nationwide deficit.
FedEx (NYSE: FDX) deliver the goods to Washington Dulles International Airport. The FedEx trucking network will deliver urgent shipments to the Nestle facility in Pennsylvania, said the White House.
Shipment of 114 Gerber Good Start Extensive HA pallets will take place earlier this week.
This was also reported by the White House President Biden has autFr.increased the first two priority orders under the Defense Manufacturing Actto which he referred last week to set priorities for supplying ingredients to formula manufacturers.
FedEx is a long-standing freight provider for the Department of Defense, which has commissioned the mission of an integrated logistics supplier within an existing contract vehicle.
The first part of the initial order of Nestle milk formula for 1.5 million bottles of baby formula for 8 ounces arrived Sunday in Indianapolis aboard the U.S. Air Force C-17. The Department of Agriculture has partnered with Nestle and the U.S. Transport Command to arrange for the transportation of Alfamino Infant, Alfamino Junior and Gerber Good Start products from Zurich. Hypoallergenic brands are designed for infants who do not tolerate cow’s milk.
Federal officials said the use of a military cargo plane for the first flight was necessary because the dispatch was urgent from a medical point of view, and the commercial partner could not be lined up quickly enough.
The Biden administration has opted for military air travel to speed up the delivery of certain types of mixtures that are experiencing critical shortages after Abbott Nutrition’s largest blend plant in Sturgis, Michigan, was shut down in February due to quality control failures that caused fears. infection. Four babies fell ill and two died in February, but no clear link between the mixture they drank and the infection found at the Sturgis plant was found.
Nestle has been using additional air cargo to import additional baby formula since the shutdown, which has exacerbated the shortcomings caused by months of supply chain disruptions.
According to industry estimates, the current average rate of absence in the formula is about 50%.
Defense Manufacturing Act
Abbott Laboratories has agreed with regulators on a conditional plan to rebuild the plant soon, and the company says it could start operating within a month. The baby formula will take another six to eight weeks to reach store shelves.
Abbott Nutrition Formula Manufacturers (NYSE: ABT) and Reckitt will now be able to add a legally binding language to their orders with suppliers giving them priority over other customers. Abbott can now receive priority orders for raw materials such as sugar and corn syrup for baby formula, the White House said. Constraints in the global supply chain have led to Abbott being able to secure only about 75% of its normal distribution. By allowing Abbott to produce the full amount of raw materials it needs, the company will be able to quickly increase production by a third compared to where it is today at its other plants.
Reckitt, which owns Mead-Johnson, is also eligible for three months to receive priority in some orders for the purchase of disposable products, such as filters used to make baby formula. This will also allow Reckitt facilities to operate at maximum power. Authorization requires Reckitt to provide updated material constraint information within approximately 60 days to reassess the need to continue using authorization to assist in Abbott’s production.
“We are working around the clock to do everything we can to quickly increase the safe supply of baby formulas – from coordinating logistics for incoming international flights to strengthening the supply chain of essential ingredients and materials,” Don O’Connell said. , Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Readiness and Response. “We will continue to evaluate additional features of the Defense Manufacturing Act as needed to help deliver formula faster to families and stabilize commercial supply chains.”
Last week, the Biden administration took a number of steps to get more formulas to market, including issuing recommendations to provide more flexibility to import foreign-made formulas.
Click here for more FreightWaves / American Shipper stories by Eric Kulish.
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