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 Pawel Jarza p.jarza@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor David Stroud d.stroud@bifa.org Training Development Manager Carl Hobbis c.hobbis@bifa.org Editorial Co-ordinator Sharon Hammond s.hammond@bifa.org


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


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 Mike Jones: m.jones@bifa.org Anglia, London East and the South East Paul Newman: paul@pnauk.com


Note to media: If you wish to use items in this magazine that are older than 1 month, please contact the editor to ensure that the item in question still reflects the current circumstances.


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.


Battling through a time of crisis


Readers may be surprised to receive a copy of BIFAlink while the Covid-19 pandemic is raging, but we know from feedback that many people still value a paper read. I do not think we have ever missed an edition since Colin Beaumont inaugurated the magazine over 25 years ago. When most of us at BIFA set up home offices in mid-March, my initial thought was that we would struggle to fill an edition but there have been numerous online meetings with government and many developments. Also, no doubt like many of you, we have found collaboration away from the office to be both achievable and quite successful. Of course, our website and fortnightly e-newsletter are the quickest way to get updates on the issues that affect your businesses. Additionally, you can get an RSS feed from the BIFA website to update you each time an item is added.


I assume that many of you are now using Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other online platforms for meetings?


You will see from the call of meeting notice elsewhere in BIFAlink that we will be holding the BIFA AGM on 28 May using Zoom. Anyone who wants to know further details should contact me. Whilst BIFA has always sought greater recognition of the importance of freight forwarders to the UK’s


international trade, for the most part, BIFA Members have been happy to stay behind the scenes, acting as the invisible hand of international supply chains. Now in these very difficult times, the important role of the freight transport sector is taking centre stage and being recognised. Behind the scenes, my colleagues who deal with the policy and compliance aspects of our role have continued to represent BIFA Members’ interests whilst working with the UK government and we are pleased by the pragmatic solutions that have been achieved to date. Further appreciation for our sector came when the government acknowledged that international freight


services and individuals working on transport systems through which supply chains operate are key workers. The forwarding industry is known for its resilience and flexibility and ‘can do’ attitude. The general public


rarely stop to think, for example, how their fruit arrives from Chile or their asparagus arrives from Peru. If they did (and enquired about it) they would find a complex chain of contracts to ensure the food is on the supermarket shelves on a regular basis. We are all aware of how Covid-19 is affecting our day-to-day lives now and how the resilience of the supply chain is being affected. With globalisation, we are now all so interconnected that whilst some parts of industry continue, others have been told or ordered to stop work and gaps arise in what used to be smooth working supply chains. Flexibility and an ability to adapt in such scenarios stand our industry in good stead. This edition of BIFAlink should have been publicising our presence at Multimodal 2020 in June, but the show


is a victim of the current crisis. We understand that the organisers now plan to hold Multimodal on 4-6 November at the NEC in Birmingham. How many of you noticed my error last month? I reflected on the divided opinion in 1984 when the then


Chancellor withdrew postponed VAT accounting. Of course, Geoffrey Howe was the Chancellor, not Nigel Lawson as I erroneously suggested. I said that opinion was divided at the time with many freight forwarders irate that their deferment guarantees


would cost more, but others were keen to embrace the changes with increased revenue for advancing money on a customer’s behalf. Now, 36 years later, we have heard the same arguments from BIFA Members either pressing for earlier introduction of postponed VAT accounting or asking us not to raise the subject. As I write, it seems this crisis that the Covid-19 virus has created is set to continue, so my best wishes to you all at this awful time.


Robert Keen Director General


May 2020


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