Robert Keen’s Column
BIFAlink
www.bifa.org
Time to pass the baton
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
Welcome to 2023 and a new chapter for BIFA. Our new Director General has been chosen and I am pleased to welcome Steve Parker to the helm at the Secretariat. There will be a handover phase with Steve, but I anticipate that he will “hit the ground running” from day one. In cricketing parlance my last DG column sees me reach my century, being the 100th that I have written without a break since my first one in September 2014. Having been Director General for nearly eight years, I decided early last year that it was time for a change. My passion for the industry and my privileged role in representing BIFA members has not dimmed, but having joined the forwarding sector in 1970 I have clocked up 52 years and it is reluctantly time to pass the baton and for
(A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England: 391973. VAT Registration: 216476363) Director General Robert Keen r.keen@bifa.org Executive Director Robert Windsor, Policy & Compliance – Surface & Legal
r.windsor@bifa.org Executive Director Spencer Stevenson s.stevenson@bifa.org Executive Director Carl Hobbis c.hobbis@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor – Customs Igor Popovics i.popovics@bifa.org Policy & Compliance Advisor – Air David Stroud d.stroud@bifa.org Editorial Co-ordinator Sharon Hammond s.hammond@bifa.org Communications Manager Natalie Pitts n.pitts@bifa.org Membership Supervisor Sarah Milton s.milton@bifa.org
fresh legs to undertake the next stretch. I am content that the association is in safe hands. I have known Steve for many years, initially at a rival forwarder before we both served as non-executive directors of the industry-owned software house Airport Bureau System at Heathrow. For the past few years Steve has been a non-executive director of BIFA and he was the National Chair from 2011 to 2013, so BIFA Members can be assured the new director general knows the ethos and aims of BIFA very well. There will be a profile of Steve in the February edition of BIFAlink . As for me, I am maintaining my role as secretary general of our global body FIATA until the end of my elected term, so I will remain associated with BIFA for a bit longer; but after the handover period life will be a little slower. Before I leave I have a project to investigate the many archive papers and industry artifacts we have at Redfern House and get them into chronological order to record the history of the association for posterity. I am looking forward to talking to some of the past chairs and industry elders to capture more about BIFA and the Institute of Freight Forwarders as well. Looking forward to 2023, we start the year without some of the big changes we have been through in the recent past. Import CDS seems to be settling down, much to the relief of Robert Windsor and his team who have grappled with EU Exit, CDS, the Northern Irish Protocol and many other legislative changes in the past few years. CDS for Export declarations is on the horizon, although December brought the news that HMRC has postponed the deadline for that move until 30 November, eight months later than previously announced. Nevertheless, this seems a good time to remind readers that our online CDS training course covers not only import CDS but export CDS as well. However, there are some other significant developments in the pipeline during 2023 and we anticipate ICS 2 will be a major topic together with CDS exports, the Single Trade Window and NCTS 5. In the maritime world, BIFA will be making representations to the Competition and Markets Authority as it prepares for the UK review of the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation. I started my work with BIFA in 1997 representing the BIFA Air Policy Group at FIATA in our battles with IATA. Twenty-five years on the battles remain and will be a large part of our policy and compliance work this year also. Finally, as anyone heading for retirement will tell you, your working life seems to pass in the blink of an eye. My memories of 1970 are still sharp, as is my recollection of my first day at Airport Courier Services walking around Heathrow from the airline sheds to the forwarders, and to the long room at Customs. Since then forwarding has given me many great memories and some great friends. I met my wife at Transglobal in the early 80s and even managed to get one of our sons to join the industry for a short while. We are part of a fantastic community and although our profile is often low, it is a sign that forwarders get on with the tasks at hand quietly, under the radar, which means that we are doing the job well.
Published by Park Lane Publishing peter@parklanepublishingltd.com Contributors
Robert Keen, Robert Windsor, David Stroud, Spencer Stevenson, Carl Hobbis, Sharon Hammond, Natalie Pitts, Igor Popovics, Brooke Neilson, Nezda Leigh Note to media: If you wish to use items in this magazine that are older than one 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
January 2023
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