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.


Frustration mounts over port problems


Over many months the much reported problems in the oceanfreight environment, especially at the port of Felixstowe, have certainly caused major difficulties for both BIFA Members and the Secretariat, which has been asked repeatedly whether we are doing anything about the matter and whether we can intervene. To set the record straight, on behalf of its Members, BIFA has made strongly worded


representations to government about the causes of the problems. We have sought independent arbitration by the government in the interest of the nation’s supply chains, but the relevant departments have made it clear that they are not going to intervene, arguing that this is a commercial matter between the port and its customers along the supply chain.


Robust press releases, which have received widespread and supportive coverage in influential media, have


been issued. We have also repeated the offer to act in an administrational role should a group of Members be interested


and willing to set up a working group to assess whether what is taking place is in breach of any law, and therefore open to a legal challenge via a class action lawsuit, or some other legal mechanism. However, BIFA cannot embark on such a legal challenge as it is not a contractual party in the issues at hand. To an extent, our hands are tied as competition law prevents BIFA from commenting on the pricing policies


that container shipping lines adopt in setting their rates. We all need to remember that we operate in a free market economy, although of late I have often wondered whether the abolition of the conference system has actually led to something worse. On a different tack, as you can imagine, planning for the BIFA Awards competition has been difficult and we


have had to cancel plans for the traditional ceremony at The Brewery in January 2021. Despite the difficulties of the year, the competition went ahead and attracted a strong number of entries from BIFA Members. Plans are now under way for a quartet of short videos that will list the finalists and announce the winners. The plan is to release the videos (hosted on YouTube) around the original ceremony date of 21 January 2021. Further details will be posted in the Awards area of bifa.org We say farewell to Paul Young at the end of the month. Paul retires from his role as ‘our friend in the North’


where he has been running our regional representation for many years. Due to COVID-19 we are not recruiting a new regional representative yet. As soon as we can all move around freely, we will return to our business model of local contacts and meetings. Thank you to BIFA Members who have been informing us about close shaves they have had with potential


scams. Most follow the familiar pattern of a request for a quotation that arrives unexpectedly. It seems PPE scams are still with us and another old scam doing the rounds is an unsolicited invitation to renew a trademark registration at £1,300 on what looks like a government communication. Last month we wrote about a ‘French based supermarket scam’. This month a Member has been targeted


with the same principle in a movement from Turkey supposedly for ASDA. The UK contact details for ASDA were provided from Turkey and the scammers answered the phone as ASDA, but further checking uncovered the fraud. Last month we published an article by Hill Dickinson detailing changes to the Road Haulage Association


(RHA) standard trading conditions (STC). At the November BIFA Legal Policy Group, the changes were discussed and whether there is an implication for the BIFA STC was considered. The thorny subject of loading and unloading of goods caused considerable debate and although the RHA STC define a carrier role, we are likely to leave the BIFA provisions unchanged. It is worth reminding BIFA Members that caution is needed at a delivery point when a driver is asked to use the consignee’s offloading equipment. Whether changes are needed to the BIFA STC post-leaving the EU is still under consideration. Finally, sad news reached us recently of the passing of former National Chair Peter Widdowson. Peter was in the Chair when I joined BIFA so a special connection for me. An obituary is on page 6.


Robert Keen Director General


December 2020 3


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