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.


July 2018


Lobbying victory on posting of workers


Some of the work we undertake on behalf of the industry takes a long time to come to fruition and that has certainly been the case with a recent vote regarding EU legislation on the ‘posting of workers’. This legislation means that an EU citizen working temporarily in another EU state is entitled to a set of core rights; however, there is a disproportionate impact on lorry drivers whose temporary work in another EU state may be only one or two days – making the application of other countries’ minimum wage rules an administrative nightmare. My colleague Robert Windsor has written an article on page 12 of this edition of


BIFAlink detailing a proposed exemption for lorry drivers. This demonstrates the cooperative strength of working with our EU neighbours through our membership of


CLECAT, The European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services. It is likely we will maintain a form of relationship with CLECAT post-Brexit, although that will be dictated by the outcome of the ongoing political discussions. Mentioning Brexit, it is interesting to see that there are still conferences being staged, often with quite high


fees. Our position is that we will only advise BIFA Members of the requirements of a post-Brexit relationship with the EU when we are dealing with facts. You may have seen that we have a full programme of free seminars around the UK on the introduction of CDS to replace CHIEF and we will look to do the same if there is a need for post-Brexit seminars. Turning to changes at BIFA, at the recent AGM in May a new non-executive Director was elected from


Council and I am pleased to welcome Susanne Oud of OIA Global to the BIFA Board. Turn to page 7 to find out more about Susanne. We also held an EGM to change the BIFA Articles of Association which was passed overwhelmingly. As I wrote earlier in the year, many of our governance functions were derived from the Institute of Freight Forwarders and the Board had been concerned that the structure no longer reflected the way that we engage with BIFA Members, hence the changes. You can find the new Articles of Association on the BIFA website. At the Secretariat, we have a vacancy for a trainer as we expand our offering on Customs matters due to a


combination of future planning for freight forwarder apprentice candidates and a general upturn in demand. You can find details on the BIFA website front page banners. In recent months I have been quite vociferous, both at the forums I attend and in my interviews with media


outlets, regarding the negative press our sector had been receiving. I am not alone, and at Multimodal earlier this year Steve Walker spoke up for forwarders in a session where he went head to head with some software providers and so-called disruptors. Steve now runs his own consultancy but has had vast industry experience with SBS Worldwide and, more recently, DSV. Between us, we seem to have had some success as in June various reports are acknowledging that the often-stated negatives about forwarders are wrong and our sector is in the main evolving to meet the challenges facing it. Before I write a column for BIFAlink I usually look back to past editions. The topics for June and July in the


past couple of years have carried some quite dramatic events, whether it was the introduction of SOLAS, the EU referendum vote, or last year an unexpected general election. Things are quiet as I write this, with Brexit rumbling along in the background. However, before we know it the CHIEF replacement will be upon us and the changes to our relationship with the EU should become apparent the nearer we get to 2019. To quote the Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”!


Robert Keen Director General


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