www.bifa.org


Robert Keen’s Column


BIFAlink


BIFAlink is the official magazine of the British International Freight Association Redfern House, Browells Lane, Feltham TW13 7EP Tel: 020 8844 2266 Web site: www.bifa.org E-mail: bifa@bifa.org (A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England: 391973. VAT Registration: 216476363)


Director General Robert Keen r.keen@bifa.org Executive Director Robert Windsor r.windsor@bifa.org Executive Director Spencer Stevenson s.stevenson@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor Mike Jones m.jones@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor Pawel Jarza p.jarza@bifa.org Training Development Manager Carl Hobbis c.hobbis@bifa.org Editorial Co-ordinator Sharon Hammond s.hammond@bifa.org Administration Controller Jane Robinson j.robinson@bifa.org


Published by Park Lane Publishing peter@parklanepublishingltd.com Contributors Robert Keen, Robert Windsor, Mike Jones, Spencer Stevenson, Carl Hobbis, Sharon Hammond, Pawel Jarza


Regional Consultants to BIFA Scotland and the Borders Len Hobbs: bifa.scot@gmail.com Northern Ireland Carson McMullan: carsonconluce@aol.com Midlands and the North Paul Young: youngyes@aol.com London West and the South West Colin Young: young_colin.t21@btinternet.com Anglia, London East and the South East Paul Newman: paul@pnauk.com


Please be advised that BIFA DOES NOT OFFER LEGAL ADVICE. BIFA is not a law firm and the authors of this publication are not legally qualified and do not have any legal training. The guidance and assistance set out herein are based on BIFA’s own experience with the issues concerned and should not be in any circumstances regarded or relied upon as legal advice. It is strongly recommended that anyone considering further action based on the information contained in this publication should seek the advice of a qualified professional.


April 2018


The freight forwarder remains as indispensable as ever


The author Mark Twain, when told that an American newspaper had published his obituary, famously said: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”. Lately it seems that the same refrain could be said about the freight forwarder. An old mentor of mine called John Carroll was a passionate forwarder and when introducing me to government meetings in my handover period would often exclaim to the audience that “if you ban freight forwarders today you will be in a rush to reintroduce them tomorrow”. What has irritated me recently is the number of media reports suggesting that our industry is in decline with technology firms predicting our demise.


Of course, with e-news (as with rolling TV news) many so-called news items are press


releases, distorted surveys, or the voiced opinions of industry experts. Many are worthy but just as many are not. Forwarding is still a people industry and will be for some time to come. We are all aware that there is a threat


to some of our traditional roles but whilst technology can be a great enabler as well as a disruptor, it is my view that BIFA Members will innovate with customer demand and continue to be the architects of the international supply chain. Some of the current phrases used to describe the transition period we are in are “B2B must be more B2C”, or “Logistics is the new retail”.


To quote the old Burlington Air Express strapline of the 1980s, “people not planes deliver”. There is a change on the way to the BIFA Articles of Association and this will be presented to an extraordinary


general meeting of BIFA Members in May, prior to the annual general meeting. Further details can be found on page 7 of this edition of BIFAlink. It is apparent that only a fraction of BIFA Members engage with the governance of the Association. Many of our governance functions are derived from the Institute of Freight Forwarders and the Board has been concerned that the structure no longer reflects the way that we engage with BIFA Members, hence these proposed changes. If you want to get more involved with the Association, please let me know. The usual route is via one of our policy groups or via the regional meetings we hold across the UK.


The long-awaited successor to CHIEF (Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight) is imminent and HM


Revenue & Customs has announced that a phased launch of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) will begin in August 2018. Hopefully many of you will have been keeping up with the updates we have been publishing. However, as always, there is a gulf between theory and practice. I have personal memories of working through the night back in 1994 when CHIEF was introduced for imports and the firm I worked for had communication issues due to equipment being under specification. Whilst there were teething problems, it has been a great system and to get 25 years from such a major IT system is quite an achievement.


Currently it is anticipated that all declarations will take place on CDS from early 2019, so we will be setting up


seminars in key BIFA Member areas in association with Agency Sector Management. Keep reading BIFAlink or our e-newsletters for updates.


Robert Keen Director General


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