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Robert Keen leads BIFA’s Brexit


presentation


alongside Peter MacSwiney (ASM), Tom


Thornton (IIFA) and Robert


Windsor (BIFA)


BIFA has its busiest Multimodal exhibition


Multimodal 2018 saw BIFA launch its Trailblazer scheme, while discussions were dominated by Brexit


It was good to meet up with BIFA Members at MultiModal 2018 held at the NEC in Birmingham at the start of May. The exhibition is now in its 11th year and the BIFA stand was as active as ever. A constant theme with visitors to the stand was training, education and skill development. We used MultiModal to launch the recently developed Trailblazer apprenticeship and we are grateful to our relationship manager at the Institute of Apprenticeships, Soryah Brown, for joining us on the first day.


Busy year BIFA’s stand was busier than in previous years with the middle day being particularly hectic. Fortunately, we had sufficient assistance (thanks to our regional consultants) to deal with enquiries. Members visited with questions or simply for a social chat; additionally we had several enquiries from companies interested in either Full or Associate Membership. The Policy and Compliance team received several enquiries regarding training especially regarding Customs procedures. It was interesting to talk to forwarders about their concerns regarding the impact of Brexit. In general terms, companies engaged in intra-EU


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approved qualification which will be kept under constant review to reflect any changes in procedures following Brexit.


Robert Keen took part in a panel discussion hosted by Heathrow Airport titled ‘What does a world-class cargo operation offer?’ which was a great platform to highlight the problems BIFA Members have with the current cargo terminal at Heathrow. A more cynical view of the future was offered by a forwarder in the audience. It was good to see the CAA, HMRC and


Border Force at the exhibition. There were particularly productive discussions with the CAA regarding aviation security, including a new regime for trainers, and with HM Revenue & Customs regarding the introduction of the forthcoming Customs Declaration Service.


Highlight An undoubted highlight for us was our panel discussion “Brexit – A view from both sides of the Irish Border”. The session was inspired by our 2017 Brexit presentation when the most interesting questions came from members of the Irish International Freight Association in the audience, so this year we were joined by their President, Tom Thornton.


The session was moderated by Robert Keen,


Soryah Brown, apprenticeship relationship manager at the Institute of Apprenticeships, with Robert Keen and Carl Hobbis


trade or owned by a European based company were worried by possible barriers to trade that might result from Brexit. To support Members, we already have a range of forwarding and customs training courses including a BTEC


with Robert Windsor giving a comprehensive overview of the proposed Transition Treaty and the UK proposals for customs arrangements with the EU after Brexit.


The chair of Agency Sector Management (ASM), Peter MacSwiney, then gave his views and Tom Thornton illustrated some of the difficulties that must be overcome from the Irish perspective. The questions were lively, and we have received great coverage in the Trade press.


June 2018


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