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FIATA meeting concludes freight forwarders are here to stay
Kicking off day one, Director General Stéphane Graber shared his excitement at the chance to meet once again in-person to discuss challenges, grow and learn, whilst President Ivan Petrov gave a motivational opening address on the relevance of the freight forwarding community and the key role it plays in global supply chains. The Regions Session looked at critical trade issues and capacity development, trying to identify ways to work together as world regions to facilitate global trade. It brought together the four Region Chairs – from Africa & Middle East (RAME), Americas (RAM), Asia-Pacific (RAP) and Europe (REU) – who shared the hot topics and challenges in their particular geographies. Invited guest speakers Azhar Jaimurzina of UNESCAP, Christina Wiederer of the World Bank Group, Dr Mohammad Saeed of the ITC and Lukasz Wyrowski of the UNECE brought their external perspectives on the current global challenges faced by freight forwarders. Dr Saeed noted that freight forwarders contribute more than 10% of the GDP of the world, and that they need to function as one united voice in the international arena. Day two Day two saw a large array of sessions, starting with the Multimodal Transport Institute (MTI) Session at which WTO Deputy Director General Jean-Marie Paugam joined the panel to share the WTO’s trade outlook with FIATA members. The following session was the Advisory Body on Information Technology, which featured the launch of the paperless FIATA Bill of Lading. Key topics like adoption of electronic bills of lading, data exchange and data governance/ ownership were discussed. The Advisory Body on Safety and Security BIFA Director General, Robert Keen, who is also Secretary General of FIATA, recaps an action- packed three days at the recent FIATA HQ meeting in Geneva
session featured an exciting dialogue on the safety issues facing the freight forwarding industry at present, followed by a fact-packed overview of the security of containers worldwide. The first part of the discussion was focused on safety in the supply chain, and in particular the causes of dangerous goods incidents, pinpointing the serious challenges posed by the lack of understanding and knowledge, mostly in packing procedures. The second part of the discussion focused on supply chain security challenges, with particular emphasis on cargo crime. The day ended with the Air Freight Institute session, which featured a lively discussion on the ebb and flow of the airfreight sector over the last decades. Glyn Hughes, Director General of TIACA, highlighted that with air cargo volumes increasing, the industry has to cope with different capacity needs and therefore will need new regulations, different from the ones conceived to govern passenger traffic. James Hookham provided a summary of the air cargo situation from the shippers’ perspective. The final day began with a session of FIATA’s Customs Affairs Institute featuring a discussion on the changing customs laws, and the need to stay on top of them, the importance of digitalisation and keeping up with the process as freight forwarders, as well as eCommerce and trade facilitation. The following session involved the Advisory Body on International Affairs, addressing the implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreements,
with the new ABIA Chair Cynthia Perisic Ivandic focusing on the implementation of the WTO TFA and the associated benefits for the private sector. A session of the FIATA Logistics Institute sought to understand the cause and suggest ways to overcome the labour shortage challenges facing the freight forwarding industry. The day came to a close with the Young Logistics Professional (YLP) session, one of the highlights of the week, which saw the 2021 regional winners of the Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award (YIFFYA) showcase their talent, offering them the visibility they deserve in front of a live audience. Closing session President Ivan Petrov officially closed the action- packed three days with a review of the most digital FIATA HQ meeting yet, and first hybrid member event at that, sharing some statistics from the week, the main lessons learned, and the importance of this chance to meet again. To the question of what the key priorities for freight forwarders should be, the speakers noted the need for continued focus on safety and security, digital connectivity, eCommerce and showcasing that freight forwarders are the
troubleshooters in the supply chain. The meeting concluded that freight
forwarders, if agile and flexible, are here to stay, as any asset owner who thinks they can replicate the entire global knowledge bank of a forwarder spanning worldwide logistics options, customs regulations and cost-effectiveness is setting themselves up for failure.
18
July 2022
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