Current News

European Commission consultation on Consortia Block Exemption Regulation

Via our membership of CLECAT, an organisation that represents the interests of the logistics and customs brokerage industry to the EU institutions, BIFA has been monitoring the revision of the shipping lines current block exemption which is due for review.

Partnership pack: preparing for a ‘no deal’ EU Exit

HMRC have informed us that the content of this pack will be updated every two weeks.

26 freight forwarders make BIFA's freight service awards shortlist

26 freight forwarding companies have been shortlisted as finalists for the nine service-related categories of this year's BIFA Freight Service Awards, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Boeing expects air cargo traffic to double in the next 20 years

Goods transported by air, including perishables, electronics and pharmaceutical products "are some of the fastest-growing trade flows around the world," Boeing said in its report. The jet manufacturer projects more than 1,100 standard-body and 500 medium wide-body passenger airplanes will be converted into freighters to handle increasing cargo volumes.

UK Logistics Confidence Index

Barclays and Moore Stephens, in conjunction with specialist sector research agency Analytiqa, have undertaken the latest in our series of surveys to assess confidence and expectations in the UK logistics sector.

Information about Felixstowe problems for BIFA Members to use with their customers

On June 11th, 2018, with no prior warning, the Port of Felixstowe introduced the Next Generation Terminal Management System (nGen), a new terminal operating system (TOS). The system was already in use at twenty-five ports worldwide owned by Hutchinson Ports, however the introduction at Felixstowe went badly wrong and over three months later the position has not been fully resolved.

Lufthansa Cargo bans dry ice shipments on 747s to keep animals safer

Lufthansa has banned the shipment of dry ice in its 747s to prioritise pets, despite demand from pharmaceutical shippers.

Extension of the UCC transitional period

This week was an important week for the implementation of the UCC. The European Court of Auditors published a report and recommendations concerning delays in the customs IT systems and several meetings were held in the European Parliament on the same topic. The IMCO Committee organised a workshop on 9 October during which CLECAT presented its views.

Port of Southampton container operations update

Further to recent communications about very high stack levels at Southampton, DP World advise that the situation has improved. There is no congestion and truck turnaround times are back to their expected operational levels.

New EU legislation relating to wood packaging material assocated with certain goods from China and Belarus

The Forestry Commission notice of new wood packaging material controls which commenced on 1st October relating to imports of various commodity codes from China and Belarus.