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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.


At full stretch in turbulent times


October was incredibly busy at the Secretariat. As we anticipate the end of the transition period and EU Customs declarations from 1 January 2021, the amount of preparatory work with government has accelerated. Added to this there was major disruption both at the port of Felixstowe and at a Heathrow airline shed as service levels plummeted. Thank you to BIFA Members who assisted by providing evidence of the problems, and also the service and financial impacts. Hot on the heels of the problems at Felixstowe came a Felixstowe surcharge from one of the carriers. Hopefully our press releases will enable BIFA Members to demonstrate to their customers that these issues are outside of their control. Our training team has been similarly inundated with work. Classroom training was


suspended due to COVID-19 in March and we revamped our offerings via Zoom videoconferencing. With a new way of working we have managed to train more delegates this year than we anticipated, despite a three-month suspension! Training for 2020 was sold out in October and we have bookings well into 2021. We think it unlikely we will be


able to deliver classroom skills training for many months to come but online training has been a tremendous success. Last month, I wrote about the liability gap between the BIFA Standard Trading Conditions (STC) and the


amount you might be offered if damage or loss occurred when using a sub-contractor operating under the Road Haulage Association (RHA) STC. A number of BIFA Members have noted that a new set of RHA STC has been issued and have asked about the changes. On page 11 we are publishing an analysis of the new RHA STC by law firm Hill Dickinson. The BIFA Legal Policy Group meets in November and the revised RHA STC will be assessed with insurers and our solicitor. Any further comment will be in the next edition of BIFAlink. Also in this edition of BIFAlink you will find details of the new membership renewal process that we are


adopting. Times change and the model we had used was dated and not compatible with today’s business practices, so it is a straightforward VAT invoice for your 2021 membership subscription. I am pleased to inform you that the BIFA Board is holding the cost of membership at the same level. This is the 13th consecutive year that the price has been held. The ‘change of bank account’ scam seems to be back, judging from the number of calls received on the


subject recently. Our friends at The European Freight Trades Association (EFTA) alerted us to reported cases just as BIFA Members started calling. Quite simply, if you receive any notification that bank details have changed for a party you send payments to, check it is genuine. As this edition of BIFAlink is being prepared, the 2020 BIFA Awards have just closed to entries. I am pleased


to report a healthy number of entries, especially in the Young Freight Forwarder and Apprentice categories. The judging process will commence shortly but the obvious downside is that our annual awards lunch in London will not take place. We have been investigating online or virtual ceremonies and if this format is adopted there will be details in the December magazine. Lastly, 2021 will see the end of the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) entry processing system CHIEF. I clearly


remember the introduction of CHIEF, ironically on 1 April 1994. After months of preparation and new IT equipment to replace the ACP 90 dumb terminals at Heathrow, we did not have enough processing power on the pre-Windows machines we had purchased and had weeks of turmoil resolving the problems. Of course CHIEF turned out to be a brilliant investment by the then HM Customs and Excise as it is still churning away 26 years later. The replacement system, Customs Declaration Service (CDS), has been processing integrator declarations for some time and it is anticipated it will go live for all HMRC declarations in 2021. BIFA held road shows across the UK in 2018 and Members asked us to provide training. We have commissioned development of an online training course which we hope to have ready for March next year. As for CDS, the full start date has slipped but our training will be aligned to enable BIFA Members to prepare for the go-live date.


Robert Keen Director General


November 2020


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