Steve Parker’s Column
The start of the football season B y the time you read this, the Premier League will be into its third or fourth game of the new season. As fans, many of us will be back to the highs and lows of supporting our team witnessing dodgy VAR decisions and referees who should have been to Specsavers. All of which begs the question – where did the summer go? That causes me to re fl ect on what BIFA has been doing and, of course, what is to come.
BIFAlink is the official magazine of the British International Freight Association Redfern House, Browells Lane, Feltham TW13 7EP Tel: 020 8844 2266 (A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England: 00391973. VAT Registration: 216476363) Director General Steve Parker s.parker@bifa.org Member Policy & Compliance Director Robert Windsor r.windsor@bifa.org Member Support Director Spencer Stevenson s.stevenson@bifa.org Member Services Director Carl Hobbis c.hobbis@bifa.org Member Engagement Director Denise Hill d.hill@bifa.org International Relations Advisor Robert Keen r.keen@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Frontier Policy Manager Pawel Jarza p.jarza@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor – Customs Igor Popovics i.popovics@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Adviser – Sustainable Logistics Mike Jones m.jones@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor – Air David Stroud d.stroud@bifa.org Editorial Co-ordinator Sharon Hammond s.hammond@bifa.org Membership Supervisor Sarah Milton s.milton@bifa.org Web site: www.bifa.org E-mail: bifa@bifa.org Published by Park Lane Publishing peter@parklanepublishingltd.com Contributors Steve Parker, Robert Windsor, David Stroud, Spencer Stevenson, Carl Hobbis, Sharon Hammond, Igor Popovics, Robert Keen, Denise Hill, Mike Jones, Pawel Jarza, Natalie Pitts Note to media: If you wish to use items in this magazine that are older than one month, please contact the editorial co- ordinator 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.
A lot has happened during the summer. We have a new government that has a number of manifesto items that could impact on the work of BIFA Members, including re-negotiating the UK-EU agreement. CHIEF has finally been laid to rest and replaced by CDS. New regulatory requirements have continued, for example for SPS goods especially in Kent, and BIFA has been and is continuing to work with some of the ports
on their development to address the issues, with the addition of extra berths and introduction of new systems. Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport, which plans to demolish and rebuild the cargo terminal, will require sophisticated new IT and upgraded processes. So, the summer has been busy! What next? We now look forward to the next few months, when we will work with the new government in any way we can, representing our Members’ interests, and continue the work with key stakeholders such as the country’s gateways. Two examples of this area of our work are: • In mid-August, BIFA joined other industry bodies at a meeting with the Port of Felixstowe to discuss the introduction of the new container booking system (CBS) following concerns raised by users during the trial period; I will provide an update on this subject when available. • BIFA is participating in an event being held on October 24 by the CCS-UK User Group. ‘The Future of Cargo Collection and Delivery at Heathrow’ which will inform the industry about AIS, its recent upgrades and upcoming new features. You can read more about that on page 6 where you will find details of how to register to attend the event. We also have our Business Leaders Forum, on October 10, which is in place to help plan the strategy for our industry. There are still a few places available – go to https://bifa.org/event/business-leaders-forum-4-2/ to register and reserve your place. Meanwhile, our training team is finding that bookings are picking up for the rest of 2024. I am always encouraged by this. Many of you have expressed a desire to make our industry more professional, and training is one of the indicators that we are doing this. How are we sharing all this with our Members? BIFAlinkTV and BIFAlink remain our key communication tools. BIFAlinkTV is now two months old and the viewing figures continue to improve. However, we are aware that some Members restrict the use of YouTube, and our message gets stuck in a firewall, which of course we totally understand, so we are working to see if we can release this on other channels that will allow easier access. We also have all our regional members meetings; the dates and venues for your area can be found on our website (https://bifa.org/events/). These also continue to grow both in attendance and the diversity of speakers and content. Interestingly, we are finding some Members are travelling to be at meetings where they may not have an office, but do have business interests – all of which is fine by us. I will end by saying enjoy what is left of our summer. Christmas is just over 100 days away.
Director General
September 2024 | 3
www.bifa.org
Made with FlippingBook Annual report maker