Robert Keen’s Column
BIFAlink
www.bifa.org
Whilst some people are confident that COVID-19 is under control in the UK due to the vaccination programme, there are also many people who are cautious about mixing in groups. At BIFA we had hoped to try some classroom training towards the end of the year, but there were only a few expressions of interest and we soon needed to use the trainers to fulfil online bookings, so this year training delivery has been totally online. However, we are planning to stage our annual BIFA Awards and lunch at the Brewery in London next January and current government announcements indicate this will be possible unless restrictions are imposed if there is a big rise in COVID-19 infections during the winter. Preparations for the event are well under way with a full complement of sponsors and it seems many people are looking forward to networking again. Our host for the awards is the Rugby World Cup winner Matt Dawson, a team captain on the TV show A Question of Sport for many years. Before then we have the Multimodal Exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. The show has been postponed a couple of times but is now going ahead between the 19th and 21st of October. We had been reticent to commit earlier but now we are confident that there is an appetite for people to emerge from interactions via video conference to meet once again in person. This year there is a freight forwarder village at Multimodal with many BIFA Members trying a new innovation by the organisers of ‘pods’, giving people the chance to be part of the exhibition without the outlay of an expensive stand. BIFA will have a stand at the centre of the freight forwarder village and the plan is that I will be there with colleagues Carl Hobbis, Liz Sumner, Sharon Hammond and Robert Windsor. BIFA will be participating in some of the panel discussions as usual. Full details are on the Multimodal website and as well as being able to register to attend there is a section detailing how the organisers are making the venue as safe as possible to visit. Our traditional format of interest groups in port communities and geographical forwarder clusters has been affected by the pandemic but we have continued to hold meetings via video conference. We will look to return to physical meetings in 2022; however, we are continually discussing how we interact with BIFA Members. There was a mixed response to a recent survey I undertook with BIFA Members from the Midlands up to the Scottish Border; some have indicated they would like regional meetings to return but equally there have been some reservations expressed. I believe we will need to take different approaches across the UK so that we do not lose existing local relationships, but we reach out to reflect the wider spread of logistics companies outside of traditional BIFA communities. Turning to online communications, we were pleased to host over 300 BIFA Members to our recent webinar ‘EU Exit – Unfinished Business’, where the next steps that were due to be implemented from 1 October were outlined with presentations from HMRC, DEFRA and the Port of Calais. The webinar had been some weeks in planning but as readers will know, the government announced a revised timetable less than 24 hours before our start time. We will be communicating feedback from HMRC and DEFRA to the many questions that BIFA Members raised. Lastly, a sales plug for our new Customs Declaration Service (CDS) online training course, which has recently been launched. As we all know, CHIEF has been around a long time for a computer system but now has less than 12 months to run on imports, although exports will remain until March 2023. Full information is available in the training area of www.bifa.org With Christmas on the horizon, I send best wishes to all Members that are active in managing supply chains connected to the festive period and hope they can overcome the enormous challenges that they face to ensure that the prophets of doom are proved wrong, and Christmas is not ‘cancelled’. Meeting with BIFA again after COVID-19
BIFAlink is the official magazine of the British International Freight Association Redfern House, Browells Lane, Feltham TW13 7EP Tel: 020 8844 2266
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Director General Robert Keen r.keen@bifa.org Executive Director Robert Windsor
r.windsor@bifa.org Executive Director Spencer Stevenson s.stevenson@bifa.org Executive Director Carl Hobbis c.hobbis@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor Pawel Jarza p.jarza@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor David Stroud d.stroud@bifa.org Editorial Co-ordinator Sharon Hammond s.hammond@bifa.org Membership Supervisor Sarah Milton s.milton@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, Nezda Leigh
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.
Robert Keen Director General
October 2021
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