Steve Parker’s Column
BIFAlink
www.bifa.org
Events that will shape our country
BIFAlink is the official magazine of the British International Freight Association Redfern House, Browells Lane, Feltham TW13 7EP Tel: 020 8844 2266
As I started to write the DG column for April’s BIFAlink , it occurred to me that there were several significant events in March that would shape our country and even our industry for the weeks and months to come. There is an excellent article on page 19 written by BIFA’s policy & compliance manager and executive director, Robert Windsor, (who is delighted to have an agreement named after him) which is worth a read. In the article, Robert considers the impact of the recent Windsor Agreement on Members’ activities, whilst not forgetting the wider social aspect. The reason for mentioning this is to assure BIFA Members that your trade association remains very close to this agreement, having had calls with the Secretary of State for
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Director General Steve Parker
s.parker@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 International Relations Manager Robert Keen r.keen@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
Northern Ireland, the Rt Honourable Chris Heaton-Harris MP, as well as HMRC and Treasury officials. Rest assured, we will monitor and report on the likely impact of the outputs as they become available, but as ever with these things the devil is in the detail. As the Chancellor announced his budget in the middle of March, one focus was the government’s intention to implement a fiscal policy encouraging some sectors of the population to delay retirement or return to the workplace. Part of this strategy includes people development and training. My reminder to you would be that BIFA has several excellent and well proven courses from which Members can benefit. Whether this is our import and export basics course, or the Customs BTEC course (which supports the Standard of Competency, set out in AEO accreditation) there should be something of interest that assists further learning. Turn to page 21 for overviews and delegate feedback relating to these two popular courses. This, along with the work we have done with Manpower on the Freight Development Pathway (FDP), a programme launched at the end of last year in partnership with Manpower to offer career guidance to individuals looking to switch from other sectors, should support the recruitment and development of such people to our industry. I am pleased to note that March saw the first candidate from those that have completed the FDP start employment as a trainee Customs operator in KTL (Europe) Ltd’s Customs department. Are Chelsea a barometer for the freight industry? As a lifelong Chelsea fan, the last 20 years have been full of excitement and success. Not so much this season, however, and most of 2023 has been flat, although at the time of writing there were signs of improvement. I wonder if it is the same for the freight industry? IATA figures suggest freight volumes are down, but the expectation for the coming months is brighter. In the ocean freight environment, I read an interesting article quoting the former chairman of two of the world’s leading carriers, who said that container lines will counter excess capacity and slow demand growth by deploying multi-faceted strategies to reduce slot supply. It will be fascinating to see how that pans out. Members active in the cross-border European road freight sector will be interested to hear the outcome of the short survey that was conducted in March by the DfT’s Future Border Policy team, in conjunction with KPMG, investigating the recent experience of HGV drivers and transport managers that drive or manage vehicles using the Short Strait crossing. BIFA is attending Multimodal 2023 With just over two months to go before Multimodal 2023 opens at the NEC, have you registered to attend? If you have, do make sure that you come and visit us in the BIFA Village. Along with colleagues, I will be attending and look forward to meeting as many of you as possible. I submitted this column from Geneva, where I was attending FIATA’s 2023 HQ Meeting. The theme of the event focused on how disruptions in supply chains have revealed the vulnerability of freight forwarding and logistics companies. The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, rising energy costs and other climatic disasters illustrate the extent of the challenge and the consequences for global supply chains and sustainable development. These challenges underscore the need to build resilience, particularly in the most vulnerable economies. In this context, ‘Navigating Uncertainty’ was the perfect theme for the 2023 HQ Meeting, which I attended on BIFA’s behalf. I look forward to telling you more about how FIATA will work towards providing tools to promote resilient logistics, in the face of disruptions, to support its Association and Individual Members to cope with the new challenges.
Published by Park Lane Publishing peter@parklanepublishingltd.com Contributors
Steve Parker, Robert Windsor, David Stroud, Spencer Stevenson, Carl Hobbis, Sharon Hammond, Natalie Pitts, Igor Popovics, Brooke Neilson, Nezda Leigh, Robert Keen 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.
Steve Parker Director General
April 2023
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