ISSUE 2 2010
BIFA vIEW / NEWS Practical government in action
Project X9 is not a top secret rocket but an example of the sort of vital work that goes on behind the scenes between the freight industry and government, says BIFA director general, Peter Quantril.
As the recognised representative organisation for the UK freight forwarding industry, the British International Freight Association (BIFA) is in regular contact and consults with many organisations and government departments on a range of subjects. A perfect example of practical government in action is HM Revenue and Customs’ X9 Project which is designed to alleviate problems relating to late presentation of export declarations on cargo leaving the UK. It also seeks to identify the reasons and to rectify the situation. While there only a few late presentations, they are still a major headache . According to HMRC, around
two out in every hundred export declarations are not finalised by being “arrived” and “departed” in CHIEF. In just one week in March 2010, 1,600 entries were not correctly presented. BIFA completely supports
HMRC’s efforts to reduce the percentage that go astray. It is accepted that the export Customs declaration procedure is a relatively complex three-stage process that may contribute to some of the problems. These stages can be summarised as ‘Initial Declaration’, ‘Arriving the Cargo’ and finally ‘Departure’.
As more than one party is
likely to be involved in the process, there is an increased likelihood of an error occurring, including the complete omission of a stage. When HMRC has finished its
studies and data analysis, they will consult with BIFA’s Customs Policy Group on the findings, which will be disseminated to the wider membership for information and comment and we welcome this opportunity to present our views on the X9 Project. An ounce of prevention is
always better than a pound of cure. We will work as closely as we can with HMRC to see that in time, all export declarations are presented correctly.
Insider threats Elsewhere, the ‘insider threat’
remains on the Government’s radar. Having welcomed the previous Government’s practical response to the ‘insider threat’ at a time of heightened national security, BIFA is urging the coalition Government not to reconsider mandatory legislation on the issue. Ruth Kelly, transport secretary
in the last Government, instigated an independent review in 2008
of how personnel security is delivered across the industry and to provide an important and timely health check of current personnel security arrangements. We welcomed this review as key to keeping our sector and the wider UK safe, whilst limiting the disruption it caused to our members activities day-to-day. At the time, the review by
senior ex-civil servant Stephen Boys Smith looked at the whole of the UK transport industry. Broadly, it found that companies should check such things as identity, history and integrity of staff members at the time of recruitment with a view of mitigating any risk of a terrorist infiltrating the supply chain. It considered what action employers and Government agencies can take where either there is insufficient assurance about an employee’s identity or indeed, where a potential or actual employee posed an unacceptable risk. According to the Government,
the so-called insider threat could emerge in any number of unpredictable guises and any counter measures have to reflect this. By their own admission personnel security is multi faceted and can appear very complex.
TIACA signs pact with customs men
The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) has signed a memorandum of Understanding with the Brussels-based intergovernmental World Customs Organization (WCO). The two organisations pledged to keep each other better informed of their activities and requirements. WCO will attend relevant TIACA meetings and will respond to submissions from TIACA on specific customs and air cargo issues, while supporting procedures by its member customs administrations that minimise disruption to airfreight. The WCO will also give TIACA more notice of meetings or projects where the expertise and resources of TIACA members would help raise standards. TIACA representatives will in turn attend WCO meetings as observers to express members’ views and will participate in WCO working groups.
This important review was followed in 2009 by BIFA’s attendance at a Department for Transport industry personnel security risk assessment workshop. This considered various insider threat scenarios, and which employees could affect them. What risk assessments, or established contingency plans and countermeasures were already in place? How involved were HR or management in upholding a culture of personnel security and if so, does this extend, for example, to sub- contractors? As a trade association, our
raison d’être is to try to limit or mitigate the impact on our members of any government intervention in their business activities. We are buoyed by
the fact that the coalition Government, through the Department for Transport, is not currently minded to mandate compliance with what we believe would be extremely difficult legislation to draw up and monitor for compliance. We supported the DfT’s connection with the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) whose role is to provide expert advice to the critical national infrastructure on physical, personnel and information security to protect against terrorism and other threats. The CPNI is hosting a number
of security risk assessment courses during 2010 and the first quarter of 2011 and we will be attending one in July. With the
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new priorities of the coalition government there is a risk that such work will be watered down or abandoned. This should not be allowed to happen. The Government is expeected
to publish a best practice guide specifically for the transport industry during 2011.
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