Global Logistics for Medical Kits and Specimens
We Ship to All 50 States and to 31 Countries, With the Documentation to Match
Not every kit assembler ships internationally. Supera does, and handles the classification, packaging standard, commercial invoice and customs holds that come with it.
Shipping to all 50 states is table stakes. The harder question a diagnostics or genomics program has to answer is what happens when a sample has to cross a border, and most kit assemblers cannot answer it. Supera ships internationally today and owns the paperwork, the packaging standard and the customs problems that come with it.
What an international lane actually requires
An international kit or specimen movement is not a domestic shipment with a longer transit time. It is a separate compliance exercise, and every step below has to be right before the box leaves Houston.
| Step | What Supera does |
|---|---|
| Lane screening | Before a destination is quoted, we check what the receiving country permits, what it restricts, and whether the material requires a permit or a written determination from a health authority. Lanes are cleared before they are sold, not after a shipment is already moving. |
| Material classification | Every shipment is classified before packaging. Diagnostic specimens default to UN3373 Biological Substance Category B under IATA Packing Instruction 650. Anything that screens as Category A, or that qualifies as exempt, is handled under its own rules rather than forced into the default. |
| Packaging and marking | Triple packaging built to PI 650, absorbent to full liquid volume, correct UN3373 diamond and proper shipping name, and dry ice or refrigerant marked and declared where used. |
| Commercial invoice | We generate the commercial invoice for the shipment, with the correct description of goods, HS classification, declared value, country of origin and reason for export. A vague or wrong invoice is the single most common reason a specimen sits in a customs facility. |
| Consignee and importer | Consignee and importer of record are confirmed in writing before dispatch, including whether the receiving site is a clinical facility or a patient residence. Those two cases carry different rules in several countries. |
| Carrier setup | Account, portal and service level configured with UPS, FedEx or DHL for the lane, with the dangerous goods and regulated commodity flags set correctly at booking rather than corrected in transit. |
| Customs and FDA issues | When a shipment is held at entry, we work the hold with the carrier and broker until it is released, and we document what caused it so the same hold does not repeat on the next shipment down that lane. |
| Return paths | Return documentation is built at the same time as the outbound, not improvised later. A collection kit that cannot legally come back is not a finished kit. |
| Lane file | Everything learned on a lane, the permits, the broker contacts, the entry codes, the holds and how they cleared, is kept and reused. The second shipment to a country is faster than the first because of this. |
Lanes we will not run
Saying no to a lane is part of the service. A specimen that is seized, destroyed or returned is worse for a program than a shipment that was never sent.
- Any destination where the material is treated as a controlled export and no written determination from the destination health authority is in hand.
- Residential delivery into countries that restrict receipt of biological material to licensed facilities.
- Any shipment where the consignee cannot be confirmed as authorized to receive the material.
- Any lane where the client asks us to declare the contents as something other than what they are.
Cold chain does not stop at the border
International adds transit time, and transit time is the enemy of a temperature requirement. Lanes that need 2 to 8C or frozen transport get a qualified shipper matched to the actual door-to-door duration for that route, not the domestic duration, plus the dry ice declaration and replenishment plan the route requires. Read more on cold chain logistics.
Local and courier delivery we run ourselves
Not every delivery belongs on a carrier network. Local and courier runs are handled by Supera staff rather than handed to a third party, which matters when a clinic needs a kit the same day, when a specimen has to move between a collection site and a lab on a short clock, or when a shipment should not sit in a carrier hub overnight. The same chain of custody documentation applies whether the box leaves on a courier run or on an international air waybill.
Why this sits with the manufacturer
Most fulfillment companies are logistics operations that learned healthcare. Supera was built the other way around. The team that classifies the material, writes the invoice and picks the packaging is the same team that assembled the kit under our ISO 13485 quality system, so the documentation matches what is physically in the box. Splitting kit assembly from international shipping across two vendors is where programs lose shipments.
Related reading
Opening international specimen lanes: a case study, on what it took to qualify a set of new destinations for a live program while it was expanding.
Country count reflects destinations shipped to date. Country requirements change, so every lane is re-screened before use rather than assumed from a prior shipment. Supera does not provide customs brokerage or regulatory consulting and is not the importer of record on client shipments.