INSIDE - Home - FIATA...INSIDE FWC 2018 6 FIATA REVIEW No. 125 | November 2018 At the FWC 2018, the...

Magazine of the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations

No. 125 | November 2018

INSIDEFIATA WORLDCONGRESS 2018

FFFAI HOSTS FWCSessions, networkingand festivities in Delhi

OUTLOOK ON 2019FIATA President BabarBadat is optimistic

YIFFYA FOR BIFALouis Perrin from UK2018’s happy winner

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No. 125 | November 2018 FIATA REVIEW 3

CONTENTS

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EXCLUSIVEEditorial5 From the President’s Desk

InsideFIATA WORLD CONGRESS 2018 (part I)6 AFI8 CAI, MTI9 Sea, Road10 Rail11 ABIA12 ABIT13 ABLM

FWC 201814 Impressions from New Delhi, India

InsideFIATA WORLD CONGRESS 2018 (part II)16 ABSS, ABVT & FLA17 RAME18 RAMNS19 RAP20 REU

An outlook on 201922 FIATA President Babar Badat

believes in the industry’s flexibility

Personally24 Meet Louis Perrin –

Winner of the YIFFYA 2018

Here & There / Agenda26 Birthdays27 Anniversaries / Forthcoming Events27 Masthead

FIATA SecretariatSchaffhauserstrasse 104CH-8152 Glattbrugg/SwitzerlandPhone +41 (0)43 211 65 00, Fax +41 (0)43 211 65 [email protected], www.fiata.com

CoverA number of India’s330,000 gods and god-desses were presentto inspire FWC’s parti-cipants in New Delhi.Photo: FIATA

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South Africa’s perfect blend of ingredients provides the ideal backdrop for this international Congress:

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At the foot of the vast continent of Africa is Cape Town, host city of the FIATA World Congress 2019, also known as

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Consistently named one ofthe best conditioned coursesin South AfricaGolf DigestAnnual Top 100 – playing atSteenberg Golf Estate shouldbe on every serious golfers’bucket list. The golf packageincludes green fees, transport,meals and drinks. Signup forthe tournament when youregister for the Congress.

It’s not all hard work andno play! A varied selectionof day tours in and aroundCape Town is available forparticipants and partnerswho find that they havea free moment during theCongress week.To book visit:www.kingdomtt.co.za/fiata-2019/

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FROM the pResident’s desk

FIATA had its World Congress in NewDelhi, you can find detailed reportsabout the sessions in this edition. I amglad to hear from participants that manysessions were informative and interactivewith participation from the audience inthe panel discussions. This is a criticalfunction and objective of FIATA, beingthe global association for the industry,to invite leading experts in transport andlogistics to answer questions that are re-levant for many businesses of logisticsproviders and freight forwarders.

I am particularly pleased to note the in-creasing participation of young logisticsprofessionals in our Congress. In an in-dustry that faces a variety of distinctivecustomer requests and continuous chal-lenges, highly-motived and well-trainedprofessionals are essential. You will readthe interview of the Global Winner ofYIFFY Award 2018, Mr Louis Perrin,who was recommended by our UK As-sociation Member BIFA. I congratu-late Louis and the other finalists in theYIFFY Award and wish them all the bestin their life and career.

I am looking forward to seeing moreyoung people joining this competitionin 2019.

Best regards!

Babar BadatFIATA President

Welcome to the last edition of FI-ATA Review in the year 2018. It

is always hard to realize how fast timeflies by. Now, it is again the time to lookback what has happened in our industryand in FIATA this year and to outlookfor the coming year of 2019.

The trade measures between the world’stwo largest economies constitute und-oubtedly the most concerning factor forglobal trade, for the past year and for theyears to come. The International Mo-netary Fund released a major report inOctober that projected the world’s eco-nomy will grow by 3.7 percent, which is0.2 points lower than they had estima-ted in April. FIATA always emphasizesthat international trade is a fundamentalbuilding block for the development andprosperity of every economy.

The transport and logistic industry con-tinues to try out new technologies. Wesee growing reports of blockchain plat-forms, autonomous vehicles and Hy-perloop passenger pods, it is exciting toimagine what our life and industry willbe like in the future. FIATA is also ta-king steps in the direction for the future,we are on the march to digitalize theFIATA training courses and FIATA do-cuments. We expect to announce someprogresses by early 2019.

Dear Colleagues and Friends

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INSIDE FWC 2018

6 FIATA REVIEW No. 125 | November 2018

At the FWC 2018, the future started in India.

Pho

tos:

FIAT

A

MANY A SESSION OF FWC 2018 EMBRACED DIGITAL CHANGE

A tale of technology, networks,disruption and opportunities

The 2018 FIATA World Congress inNew Delhi, India, was exceptional

in many ways, with a wide variety ofexcellent sessions and glamorous andsparkling evening events. The Chair-man of the Indian Federation of FreightForwarders (FFFAI), Mr. AV Vijay-kumar, officially opened the Congress,thanking FIATA for this opportunity, asIndia was privileged to host the FIATAWorld Congress for the first time, aftera long wait of over 50 years. The FIATAWorld Congress is one of the leadingand most significant conferences in thelogistics industry. 1,200 participantsfrom 130 countries came to Delhi inSeptember to meet, network and buildstrong communities.

AFI

99TH MEETING OF THEAIRFREIGHT INSTITUTEThis year’s AFI Meeting offered threepresentations.

One was by Mrs. Andrea Gruber,IATA Head, Special Cargo on Airfreight,IATA CEIV Pharma. Mrs. Gruber, whowas our special invitee, provided in-

formation on the latest developmentsin the framework of the transport oftemperature-sensitive healthcare andpharmaceutical products, and on howthe industry is responding to the CEIVCertification programme, and the key in-dustry priorities for future developmentsin airfreight. The same was well receivedby the audience, with a host of questionsfor Mrs. Gruber.

The second presentation was givenby our very own IATA-FIATA Govern-ance Manager, Mrs. Joana Nunes Coelho,who gave an overview of the current sta-tus of the new IATA-FIATA Air CargoProgramme. She informed her audienceabout how a forwarder can join the pro-gramme, explained the formation andfunctionsof theRegionalCouncils and the

implementation of key milestones thusfar achieved and those still ahead of us.

The core item of the AFI Session wasthe Panel Session on Disruption andOpportunities.

AFI Chairman Mr. Keshav Tannaannounced the moderator, Mr. SnehalParikh, Managing Director of the LemuirGroup of Companies, Past Presidentand Member of the Board of Advisorsof ACAAI, and a past Vice-President ofFIATA. Mr. Parikh has experience of over40 years in the Indian logistics and sup-ply chain industry.

For more than 50 years the

Indian Federation of Freight

Forwarders (FFFAI) has been

eager to host a FIATA World

Congress. In 2018, this dream

came true, with around 1,200

delegates and participants

present in New Delhi.

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The intention of the panel session, asMr. Parikh explained in his introduction,was to examine of what is happening inthis globally-changing scenario of disrup-tive technology, to envision what the fu-ture of logistics and transportation holdsfor us and to determine what opportuni-ties we can create for ourselves from thisdramatic change. Are we ready for changeor are we waiting to be left out?

Digitisation is omnipresent. It is re-moving entry barriers in every businessby enhancing direct customer connects,opening the doors for new competitionfrom digital disruptors and raising thebar for customers’ expectations.

Welcome to the 4thIndustrIal revolutIon,Welcome to theexponentIal ageSoftware will disrupt most traditionalindustries in the next five to ten years,maybe less. The examples set by Uber,Airbnb, Facebook, Amazon and manymore are before us. Artificial intelligencemakes computers become exponentiallybetter in understanding the world. IBM’sWatson is already displacing many younglawyers. It is now happening in the fieldsof health, education, 3D printing, manu-facturing, agriculture, jobs and more.In short – everywhere. Self-driving cars,autonomous trucks, air taxi drones, etc.are here. Imagine pilotless, lighter andcarbon-efficient cargo freighters.

Big efforts were made to have a vari-ety of eminent panellists for this session.The Moderator welcomed:Mr. Kanishka Agiwal: IBM India Pri-vate Limited, Head – Travel&Transpor-tation Industry, Member of IBM Indus-try AcademyMs. Vandana Aggarwal: Ministry ofCivil Aviation, Government of India,Economic AdvisorMs. Kirsten De Bruijn: Emirates Sky-Cargo, Vice-President, Cargo Pricing andInterline – Revenue OptimisationMr. Shankar Iyer: Swiss WorldCargo Di-rector Cargo Africa, Middle East and IndiaMr. Markus Mücke: Global Head AirFreight Procurement and Product Man-agement at Panalpina

independently into all these differentunconnected systems. This is most timeand cost inefficient. Rather than pocketsof systems being developed, there is theneed, when we are developing the newair cargo policy, to also look not only atcargo movements but also informationflows in an integrated manner. So whenwe talk of partnerships we should look atthis as well, in terms of integrating andinterfacing.

Ms. Aggarwal, stated that the Indi-an government was doing that, and sheprovided examples. The ACS is intendedto remove duplication information andalso to optimise the reliability of infor-mation. They do not have to redo whathas already been done. The informationflow moves through seamlessly withoutduplication into the system for all thosewho need to know, while there are dataprotection and all the other privacy re-quirements, security, etc. foreseen. It addsIcegate, India’s National Trade Portal. So,regulatory systems were to be connected,so that all the participants are there andadvanced clearances and other kinds oftransaction can be dealt with. The Na-tional Logistics Portal takes that step upat a wider play. Because they have digitalroad systems (Vahan and Sarathi), rail-ways voice system and the PCS, whichis the port cargo community system, andwill integrate all these into a multimodalsystem, which talks to each other withoutduplication. She sees technology as thebest enabler for that. So it provides theopportunity to reach out to the 1.3 bil-lion consumers sitting in a village in Indiaas well, it also provides the opportunityto reach out to the smallest manufacturer(making handicrafts) for the businessreaching out to producers who can servecustomised needs as well to those beingapart from the big business needs. TheBig India Cloud, the Big India DigitalPlatform is also in the making. She urgedthe international cargo community topartner with the government of India andall the stakeholders who are participatingin creating this digital platform.

The AFI Chair, Mr. Keshav Tanna,explained why he had chosen this subjectof disruption and opportunities for this

Mr. Sam Katgara: Partner Jeena&Com-pany, India, Past President of ACAAI

The panellists’ exchange of ideas anddiscussion were prompted by some inci-sive questions, citations and comments.

some quotesQuestion: “There are rapid changes tak-ing place in global manufacturing, tradeand distribution, which are disruptingexisting business models and practicesand logistics service offerings, on whichgovernment policy would be based. Howis the government of India approachingthis moving target for enhancing ourstrength and positioning in the globalaviation and air cargo sector?”

Ms. Aggarwal replied: “In the entireglobal supply chain, governments are to-day a partner in that chain, rather thana body that acts as a big brother or justa regulator. So the regulatory functionis today combined with facilitation andpartnering, in order to strengthen thesupply chain, so that the government ac-tually does not becomes the weakest linkin that chain, or causes time and cost in-terference to business.”

Ms. Aggarwal was hesitant to usethe word disruption, because it bringsNostradamus to her mind and predic-tions of doomsday. She believes technol-ogy is challenging us to stay relevant andto stay ahead of those who do not havethe creative juices.

Mr. Parikh aligned with Mr. Katgara:The forwarder as the intermediary is of-ten blended with additional costs, speak-ing at least for the Indian forwarder as atypical case, for hardware and softwaredevelopment. This is further aggravatedby the fact that in India we have a situ-ation that there are competing airports,each developing their own system, evencustoms have their system, and largemultinational forwarders would havetheir propriety systems. The Indian AirCargo Association has developed an in-dustry platform called ‘Uplift’ and thegovernment is developing the NationalAir Cargo Community System (ACS).

So the average forwarder has tocomply with individual independentsystems and to feed data separately and

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session. It was all caused by a very simplemessage he had received.

“Uber, the world’s largest taxi com-pany, owns no vehicles. Facebook, themost popular media owner, creates nocontent. Alibaba, the most valuable re-tailer, has no inventory. Airbnb, the larg-est accommodation provider, owns noreal estate. (Origin: various sources onthe worldwide web.)

“Which way is the world headed? Itis all about technology. It is perhaps equalfor all, some more, in terms of skills,some a little less.”

“Disruption is not only for the sakeof disruption; it also has to be meaningfuland therefore the people who are affectedby it should also be able actually to posi-tion themselves to remain relevant.”

The panel discussion was well re-ceived by the audience and the AFI’snormal business meeting continuedthereafter.

CAI

CUSTOMS AFFAIRSINSTITUTEThe CAI meeting chaired by Mr. SteveParker delivered several presentationsfrom speakers about customs topics ofthe day. These were: e-commerce, theprotection of wildlife and the WorldTrade Organisation (WTO) – Trade Fa-cilitation Agreement (TFA).

Two comprehensive presentationsabout the state of play and objective ofthe TFA were provided. The first one byMr. Alejandro Gamboa-Alder, Counsel-lor, Market Access Division of the WTO.

He explained the ways of the TFAto overcome obstacles, the so called redtape for trade crossing borders, and heshowed the associated articles in theTFA for cutting red tape at the borderfor easier trade. Delegates noted the sta-tus of the current implementation of theTFA. Gamboa informed his listeners onissues related to the single window, thenational committee on trade facilita-tion (NCTF) and the e-certificates, andshowed the road ahead, the challenges

and the opportunities, and finally theexpected positive trade impact of fullimplementation of the TFA. The meet-ing noted that 67% of the existing Na-tional Trade Facilitation Committees in-cluded forwarders’ representatives.

Mr. Ankur Huria Huria, of the WorldBank (WBG), Senior Private Sector Spe-cialist, Trade Facilitation and Logistics,underlined Mr. Gamboa’s presentation inview of the big gains of TFA, its objec-tives and benefits, the role of the WorldBank, its approach and ways of support.WBG projects directly cut trade costs andfacilitate trade by improving coopera-tion across border management agencies,harmonising procedures, and fosteringsmoother and more cost-effective logis-tics. Finally, he focused on establishingmodern border management.

The CAI Chair introduced anotherspeaker who – as he announced in a firstthought – may not be related to customs.The link soon became evident, howev-er. Mr. Robert Campbell, of the RoyalFoundation of the Duke and Duchess ofCambridge, United for Wildlife (UfW)Programme Manager. UfW is engagedin protecting endangered species, such aselephants, rhinos, tigers and pangolins,so they can share our world with futuregenerations.

“Did you know?” Campbell asked.There are only HALF as many wild ani-mals in the world today as there were50 years ago? Wildlife trafficking is theWorld’s fourth-biggest illicit trade ‘mar-ket’ and makes up to USD 23 billionper year. The people that make the highprofits are those that one cannot see –professional international criminals andtheir international organised criminalnetworks. These perform in a huge in-dustrialised supply chain to kill wildlife,smuggle and sell it.

These networks are organised crimenetworks like many others, and they areexperienced now in moving into newmarkets, financing poachers, smugglingcontraband on cargo ships and commer-cial aeroplanes, and are linked with otherthreats. Wildlife trafficking is listed as afunding mechanism for armed groups.Throughout Africa, wildlife criminals

have corrupted local leaders, provincialleaders, ministers, and even presidentsand prime ministers.

The UfW Transportation Task Forceis combatting the above. It raises aware-ness, intelligence, shares best practicesand technical innovations. Campbell ex-plained an information-sharing systemsupported by the Royal Foundation anddeveloped to facilitate increased distribu-tion of information with the private sec-tor. This system works in tandem with asecure network to pass information aboutsuspected wildlife traffickers on to cus-toms and law-enforcement authorities.

Mr. P.K. Das, Member Customs,Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Cus-toms, Government of India, provided hisinsight about e-commerce in India and itsexponential growth. India’s e-commercepotential is projected at USD 52 bil-lion. Right now, India is a small spacein e-commerce, compared to many othercountries in the world. He predicted thatIndia has huge opportunities, and thesecan be taken forward by SMEs as well tomove into e-commerce.

The Indian Customs Authorities havetaken measures to liberalise and facilitatee-commerce, to streamline procedures, inparticular for couriers and foreign post.These procedures to have the basic effectof making India a better place for thepeople operating in this sector, whetherthey be customers, vendors, courier ope-rators or foreign post operators.

Mr. Das informed his audience thatthe government of India has announcedvarious digitised initiatives in the lastthree years. Digital India, Making In-dia, Start-up India, to name but a few.All these initiatives touch on e-commercein one way or another.

MTI

MUlTIMOdAl TRANSpORTINSTITUTEThe Chairman of the Multimodal Trans-port Institute, Mr. Robert Keen (UnitedKingdom), welcomed a large number ofparticipants to the meeting.

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SeaMr. Jens Roemer (Belgium), Chairmanof the Working Group Sea Transport,reported that, subject to concerns overprice-fixing practices by members ofthe few remaining alliances, the FBI hasstarted an investigation of major contain-er shipping lines by storming a meetingof top industry executives in the USA onthe 21st of March 2017. The investiga-tion is pending.

Furthermore, the FMC has inves-tigated the charging of demurrage anddetention fees by container shippinglines. Shippers and intermediaries fileda petition in December 2016, claimingthat the investigation is unfair in certainscenarios. It has been suggested to estab-lish a rule that would limit situations inwhich detention and demurrage may becollected.

A public hearing was conducted bythe FMC in mid-January 2018, whichincluded stakeholders on the petition,such as importers, shipper associations,transport providers, carriers and terminaloperators.

The FMC has amended its rulesgoverning Non-Vessel-Operating Com-mon Carriers (NVOCC), negotiatedrate arrangements and NVOCC servicearrangements. The regulatory changesmodernise, update and reduce regulatoryburdens.

Among others, the FMC seems tohave eliminated the requirement thatNVOCCs file negotiated rate arrange-ments (NRAs) and NVOCC service ar-rangements (NSAs).

FIATA respects that demurrage anddetention charges are a valid and impor-tant tool for shipping lines to ensure thattheir equipment is returned as fast as pos-sible. Merchants exceeding relevant freetimes should be penalised for the use ofthe container.

However, merchants should not besubjected to unjust and unreasonablecharges. In this context, there are strongindications that shipping lines abuse thecharging of demurrage and detentionto maximise profits. It is understoodthat shipping lines have been sufferingin a very tough business environment

– FIATA further encourages more datasharing in the maritime supply chain,which would lead to greater transpar-ency of information related to thesecharges.

In lieu of intervention by regulatoryauthorities, the document aims to ex-amine the current situation and outlinebest practices that could be implementedvoluntarily by all parties moving cargothrough ports. These best practices mayhelp reduce unnecessary supply chaincosts and inefficient behaviour that leadto detention and demurrage charges.

The document can be downloadedfrom the FIATA Website:

https://fiata.com/fileadmin/user_up-load/documents/recent_views/MTI/FIATA_World_Congress_2018_-_Pres-entation_New_Working_Group_Sea_-Best_Practice_Guide_on_demurrage_and_detention-.pdf

Mr. Nicolas Buhmann provided apresentation about the new project Trade-Lens. He explained that IBM and Maerskhave launched TradeLens. This is an openand neutral supply-chain platform poisedto transform the industry.– TradeLens is built for the industry and

offers benefits to trade participantsfrom across the supply chain ecosystem.

– Responding to industry feedback, IBMand Maersk have revised the approachand are proceeding under a collabora-tive model, which offers greater flexi-bility and responsiveness to industryfeedback.

– An Industry Advisory Board will help toshape the platform and drive standards.

– Maersk Line and Hamburg Süd areparticipants under the same terms asother network members.

– Core platform components are avail-able today, under an early adopter pro-gramme. Full release remains on targetfor Q4/2018.

RoadMr. Tomas Suhanyi (Slovakia), Chairmanof Working Group Road Transport, re-ported that the WG met in Prague, CzechRepublic, on the 7th of September 2018.

He reported that the TIR has beenoperational in China since the 18th of

and do everything they can to developrevenue streams that are not necessarilyderived from freight, but FIATA doesnot believe that forwarders and shippersshould be subjected to predatory pricingof this nature, especially as delays oftenoccur through no fault of the forwarderor shipper.

In the document, the WorkingGroup suggests that commercial partnersreview the following issues related to de-murrage and detention charges and nego-tiate an agreement to:– Limit the demurrage or detention ac-

crued to a maximum amount.– Extend the free time period in case the

terminal is unable to release / receive acontainer by the period that is equal tothe duration of the inability.

– Limit the charging of demurrage ordetention to the item that covers the“compensation for the shipping linefor the use of the container,” in case themerchant is unable to pick up / returna container. The (escalating) item thatcovers the “encouragement for the mer-chant to return the container” shouldbe waived.

– Ensure a level playing field for contain-ers in merchant haulage and negotiateterms to reduce unfair differentiation.

– Increase export demurrage free periods,in order to allow the merchant morerealistic export planning and complywith the various closing dates related byVGM, advanced manifest requirementsand physical closing.

– Change the calculation of export de-murrage to transfer the responsibilityof vessel delays to the shipping line.

– Ensure that demurrage and deten-tion charges on import shipments arecharged much faster, ideally within aweek.

– Help to relieve terminal congestion aswell as land-side concentration of pick-ups and deliveries, due to bigger vesselsand higher peaks, and allow merchantsmore flexibility by increasing demur-rage free periods.

– Support the modal shift towards moreenvironmentally-friendly modes oftransport, by increasing the detentionfree period.

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INSIDE FWC 2018

May 2018. The first TIR transport wasperformed by two Chinese and one Rus-sian TIR carnet holder. Currently TIRtransport is performed by Kazakh op-erators (from China) and Uzbek opera-tors (to / from China). The TIR has beenoperational in Pakistan since the 18th ofApril 2018. The first TIR operation tookplace in July, with goods transportedfrom Iran to Pakistan, and TIR IT toolsused in their full scope in both Iran andPakistan. The next milestone is to ex-tend digital TIR to the entire length ofthe Islamabad–Tehran–Istanbul corridor(ITI). Finally, the TIR has been opera-tional in India since the 15th of August2018. Customs offices in the port ofMumbai and in Delhi are open at the firststage, the number of customs offices is tobe expanded further. First TIR operationsare under preparation; TIR in India pavesthe way for the activation of the Interna-tional North–South Transport Corridorcorridor (INSTC).

The INSTC, connecting the IndianOcean and the Persian Gulf to Russiavia Iran, was initiated in the year 2000by Iran, Russia and India. The INSTCwas expanded to include eleven newmembers, namely Azerbaijan, Armenia,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Tur-key, Ukraine, Belarus, Oman, Syria andBulgaria (as an observer). Moreover, theINSTC should reduce transport costsand transit times. There could be syner-gies between the FIATA multimodal billof lading (transport document) and theTIR Carnet (transit customs document).

RAILDr. Ivan Petrov (Bulgaria), Chairman ofthe Working Group Rail Transport, re-ported on the second joint FIATA andOSJD seminar on Combined Trans-port, held on in Istanbul, Turkey, on the11th and 12th of July. Under the themeof “New possibilities for Europe–Asia–Europe multimodal transportation” del-egates discussed critical aspects for thedevelopment of Asia–Europe transportcorridors, namely political support, unifi-cation of trade laws and trade facilitation,challenges and best practices. The meet-ing was hosted by UTIKAD, the Turkish

member association of FIATA, and at-tracted 55 participants from 18 countries.

Both the industry and governmentsare broadly aware of rail transportbottlenecks.

Taking the Eurasianrail corridor as an ex-ample, speakers inIstanbul pointedout that lessdeveloped infra-structure in someareas representsone barrier, asdo infrastructuregaps, low opera-tional efficiency andlack of effective con-nection to other modes oftransport.

Other bottlenecks which are becomingincreasingly significant are administrativebottlenecks. Differences in cross-border pro-cedures, legal systems, trade and transportpolicies, transport documents and manyother factors limit efficiency.

FIATA and UIC have decided to or-ganise the next Rail Market Place Semi-nar in 2019. Place and date have yet to beannounced. Euro-Asian rail freight corri-dors transit many countries, all of whichare members of UNECE or UNESCAP.Each has a different national railwaysystem, structure, and a different legalregime governing international rail trans-port. The convention concerning Inter-national Carriage by Rail (COTIF), forexample, and its uniform rules regardingthe Contract of International Carriage ofGoods by rail (CIM). In addition, thereis the agreement on International Rail-way Freight Transport (SMGS).

DIGITALISATIONMr. Xavier Britto, Chairman of KerryIndia, reported his views on the digitalimpact on and the challenges in thefreight forwarding business. India hasmade a lot of progress in digitalisationover the past few years, despite the manychallenges. It is estimated that digitalisedcommerce will grow rapidly over the nextfew years. The digital world provides uswith the comfort of cost effectiveness,

but society is urged to make compromis-es because of its complexity. Multimodaltransports are the challenges for digitali-sation. Digital applications are differentfrom country to country and belong tothe regulatory framework in each county.Mr. Britto supposed that it is very expen-sive to apply digitalisation by mediumand small-sized freight forwarders.

CARGO HANDLING IN PORTSWITH GLOBAL ACTIVITIES ANDITS CHALLENGE IN A DIGITAL-ISED WORLD – A FORUMMr. Jan Hoffmann, Chief, Trade LogisticsBranch, Division on Technology&Logis-tics, UNCTAD, Geneva, reported thatthere are three stages which have an im-pact on digitalisation.

1st – Optimisation: An importantdriver for the optimisation of port callsis that relevant data is shared in advance.This enables better planning of berthoccupation, availability of equipment,labour resources, as well as stowage plan-ning and the subsequent distribution anddelivery arrangements.

2nd – Extension: Today, the track-ing of cargo in cases of incorrect deliveryis nearly impossible. It is also hard toidentify where in the chain the issue oc-curred. This is due to a number of missingmechanisms, for example reliable recordof identity, transparent and verifiable trail

are broadly aware of rail transport

Taking the Eurasian rail corridor as an ex-ample, speakers in Istanbul pointed

gaps, low opera-tional effi ciency and lack of eff ective con-nection to other modes of

Intense B2B meet-ings – and festivities.

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InsIde FWC 2018

of ownershipand up-to-date cargo

traceability information.Possible solution: Blockchain can be

used to solve some of these challenges, bycreating an electronic, immutable, trans-parent and verifiable decentralised recordaround cargo documentation.

Additional benefits from such a so-lution would include access to reliableinformation that can be used for riskmanagement or financial purposes, thecreation of automated smart contractsaround container documentation and areduction of human errors due to auto-mated processes.

Barriers: implementing an early-stagetechnology brings a number of risks, in-cluding cyber security, resistance to adop-tion and the need to retrain people towork with the new technology.

3rd – Transformation: Urgencyamong leaders to embrace digitalisation,to better understand the implications andto transform the enterprise to respond tothe new reality.

Mr. Sanjiv Garg, Indian RailwaysTraffic Service, reported on dedicatedrail freight corridors in India. These cor-ridors link the four metro cities in India,connecting North India with Mumbairespectively Kolkata. The concept startedin 2006 and now, in 2018, it is nearly areality. The World Bank is co-fundingthis huge infrastructure work.

The Western Corridor was designed fordouble-decker trains, with the maximumtrain length set at 1,500 m. Mr. Garg re-ferred to container logistics and mentioned

ered insightful views on the impact ofdiversity in the workplace. Ms. Yechuryhighlighted how the status of womenin Indian society has undergone a seachange over the past few decades, froma mere homemaker to a dynamic multi-tasking individual.

Relating this to our industry, shepointed out that India was the countrywith the greatest number of female pilots.Globally just over 5% of pilots are wom-en, whereas in India, the figure is closeto 13%. On International Women’s DayAir India had an all-woman crew fly arecord-breaking round-the-world Delhi–San Francisco–Delhi route.

After highlighting the various ad-vances made by women, she hoped thatgovernments and the private sector wouldrecognise the benefits of a diverse work-force, not just one focusing on women’sdevelopment, but also on racial and reli-gious diversity, as this cultivates varyingideas and allows for more opportunitiesof growth in new markets.

Ms. Yechury concluded by highlight-ing the fact that gender equality has madegreat strides, but still has a long way togo. She called on all parties in the privateand public sectors to continue to progressthe cause forward.

Mr. Jan Hoffmann, Chief, TradeLogistics Branch, Division on Technol-ogy&Logistics, UNCTAD, Geneva, fol-lowed this by shifting the focus slightly todiscuss protectionism, trade and logisticsin today’s constantly changing landscape.He highlighted trade growth, quotingUNCTAD’s Secretary General, whostated that “tariff reductions, togetherwith technological advances, drove theextraordinary expansion of global tradethat we’ve witnessed in our lifetimes. In1960, trade as share of world GDP stoodat 24%; today it comes to nearly 60%.”

Mr. Hoffmann then examined therecent protectionist moves by the USgovernment administration, emphasisingthat a global trade war might jeopardisethe multilateral trading system itself. Thisenhanced the role of trade bodies suchUNCTAD, WTO and others, which actas mediating bodies to settle such tradedisputes. He emphasised the fact that the

that India’s globalranking in the

World Bank’s 2016logistics performance

index saw India jumpfrom 54th in 2014 to

35th in 2016.The global logistics

industry employs 40 millionprofessionals, and the Indian

logistics industry employs about22 million people. India is one of the

fastest-growing economies in the world.Container handling capacity in the

country’s ports is planned to be increasedto 47 million TEU by 2020 (10.35 mil-lion TEU at present). India’s major portshandled 14.68 million TEU in 2017–2018.

Mr. Sachin Bhunushali, CEO ofGateway Rail, reported that there isa need to integrate multiple actors,multiple documents and multiple regula-tory processes. The VGM represents animportant piece of information for allmodes of transportation. There are vari-ous international conventions in place(Hamburg, Hague-Visby, etc.), but now-adays it is very difficult to follow theserules. There are only three ratificationsof the Rotterdam Rules. There should besome element addressing e-commerce inthe conventions. There should be a com-mon law on multimodal transport, whichis important for digitalisation.

ABIA

AdvIsory Body InternAtIonAl AffAIrsThe Advisory Body International Affairs(ABIA) held its annual World Congressmeeting with vibrant participants in at-tendance to hear about the body’s workover the past five months. With protec-tionist measures by two key superpowerstates this past year, delegates were inhigh anticipation for the discussion tocome, which focused on trade wars.

After opening the meeting, ABIAChair Mr. Paul Golland introduced thefirst panel speaker, Ms. Ragini Yechury,WiLAT Chair, CILT India, who deliv-

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international community’s work on tradefacilitation is becoming ever more impor-tant, in the wake of tariffs as an alterna-tive tool to combat protectionist efforts.

To complement Mr. Hoffmann’spresentation, the ABIA Chair introducedMr. Mohammad Saeed, Senior Trade Fa-cilitation Adviser at the International TradeCenter (ITC), a subset of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO). Mr. Saeed discussedrecent developments occurring in the Unit-ed States, and their potential ramification onworld trade. Mr. Saeed instilled confidencein FIATA members by reassuring them thatrecent tariffs imposed by the US would beunlikely to result in prolonged and sustainedprotectionist efforts, as the world had tastedthe many benefits that international tradehas to offer. The ITC, along with the inter-national community, stood ready to helpmediate diplomatic trade discussions withbilateral states, to help minimise any furtherthreats of trade wars.

After hearing both speakers it wasclear to the audience that there wouldnot be any winners from a trade or tariffwar. All countries would ultimately sufferand it was up to private sector groups andthe public sector to work together to findcommon ground.

After these three engaging presenta-tions the Chairman Mr. Golland openedthe floor for questions that covered rangeof queries, from changing regulations toassistance with diversity in the workplaceto the benefits of protectionist measuresfor emerging markets in comparison todeveloped markets.

As time was running out Mr. Gollandannounced the closing of the meeting,giving details of the next meeting, whichwill be held at the 2019 FIATA HQ Ses-sion in Zurich in March.

ABIT

AdvIsory Body ofInformATIon TechnologyOn the 28th of September Susan Malaikaand Arnaud Le Hors from IBM, and JacoVoorspuij from GS1, made presentationsat the Advisory Body of Information

Technology (ABIT) session. ABIT workswith UN/CEFACT, ISO and other tech-nology standard-setting organisations toensure that the technology used through-out the logistics industry is taken intoconsideration when new standards areproposed and implemented. The aim ofthis specific session was provide an educa-tional background to delegates on block-chain and artificial intelligence (AI).

Mr. Le Hors, Senior Technical StaffMember, Web and Blockchain OpenTechnologies at IBM, explained howblockchain will fundamentally changethe way we do business. The novel block-chain architecture gives participants theability to share a ledger, which is updatedevery time a transaction occurs throughpeer-to-peer replication. Cryptography isused to ensure that network participantssee only those parts of the ledger that arerelevant to them, so that transactions aresecure, authenticated and verifiable.

Blockchain also allows the contractfor asset transfer to be embedded in thetransaction database, determining theconditions under which the transactioncan occur. Network participants agreehow transactions are verified, throughconsensus mechanisms. Blockchainsare all about adding irrefutable proof totransactions. Blockchain technology ena-bles the Bitcoin crypto-currency and isbest known for this usage. However, theshared ledger technology is separate andseparable – applicable to a whole range ofbusiness challenges across all industries.

Ms. Malaika, Senior Technical Staff atIBM, Open tech for AI &Data, exploredAI today and tomorrow and how AI willfundamentally change the way we dobusiness. AI is about analysing the past,predicting the future and providing ac-tions in the present. AI relies on havingdigital data. Computing has moved along.In this era much more data is stored.

AI is used for facial recognition andpurchase recommendations, for example.Computers learn how to respond to cus-tomers. Huge investments are happeningin AI. We can expect it to grow and beused more and more in every discipline.Ms. Malaika predicted that AI will getdeeper and deeper into systems, moredata will be analysed and how entitiesdeal with each other will be different.You will be able to target much moreregularly, personalise at scale. The wholeplanet will be instrumented sending mes-sages to big servers. An emerging area ishow to trust AI. AI will need regulationand institutions, because it will need tobe able to explain itself.

Mr. Voorspuij, Senior Manager,Transport and Logistics, at GS1’s globaloffice, put both topics in context by ex-plaining that both blockchain and arti-ficial intelligence work best when leve-raging common global standards. A‘shipment’ is not understood in the sameway by everybody. One thing that needsto be fixed is a common semantics. In-dividual things moving along the supplychain need to be identified. Many identi-

More than 1,200 delegates and participants found their way to New Delhi.

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fication numbers are required. Once thethings are identified in our IT systems,you have to be able to link the physicalobject back to its information. What arethe kinds of information that you maywish to exchange? GS1 identifies eventssuch as the buying and selling of trans-port and logistics services and the ex-change of master data about the productand the location.

The panel discussion, moderated byABIT Chairwoman Ms. Anne Sandretto,made clear that there are enormous techopportunities, because logisticians andfreight forwarders (including ports, air-ports, etc) are digitising their systems andembarking on technologies such as block-chain and AI. It appears that semanticPDFs might be a useful concept for thefreight forwarders – as a way to help auto-mating data extraction from documents.If the documents are varied structurally,then this data-capture solution might beappropriate.

ABLM

ADVISORY BODYLEGAL MATTERSThe ABLM session at FWC 2018 featuredan informative and interactive panel dis-cussion on the topic of “fighting againsttrade fraud”. Three distinguished guestspeakers attended the session on the 27thof September, namely Mr. PottengalMukundan, Director of ICC Commer-cial Crime Services; Mr. Badri Narayanan,Partner of Lakshmikumaran&Sridharan;and Mr. Michael Brown, Executive Vice-President of Avalon Risk Management.

Under the moderation of ABLMChairman Mr. Richard Gluck the speakerselaborated on fraud related to NVOCCbills of lading, cargo claims and cyber at-tacks, and gave forwarders some advice onhow to prevent such fraud.

Mr. Mukundan reported that researchconducted by ICC saw multiple sets of origi-nal B/Ls issued on the same cargo and sub-mitted to different banks for financing. Hecalled on all partners in the process, includ-ing NVOCCs, to improve scrutiny in issuing

c) FRAuD FOunD In REcEnTcARGO cLAIMS

Mr. Brown: Apart from the Nike case,another example is a shipment of autoparts from the USA to China. Whencargo arrived in the port of discharge, theconsignee could not be found and thecargo was found by customs to be tires,forbidden to be imported into China.

The NVOCC had to pay for de-murrage, detention and fines, as it wasthe shipper in the Master B/L. In manysimilar cases, shippers did not exist andconsignees were highly susceptible, so thebest advice for freight forwarders is toknow the clients and sub-contractors tothe greatest extent possible.

D) cYBER ATTAckS AnDInSuRAncE cOVERAGE

Mr. Narayanan: Freight forwarders usu-ally maintain confidential and valuabledata about shipments and clients. If suchdata is inappropriately disclosed to thirdparties and results in fraud against clients,then clients might hold forwarders liablefor gross negligence.

Freight forwarders should thus takereasonable procedures to prevent dataleakage, including training of employeesand the timely updating of computer de-fence software.

Mr. Brown: Apart from the responsi-bility to the data itself, more jurisdictionsnow require data holders to carry out spe-cific notification procedures to people incase of data breach, such as GDPR in theEU. Cyber crime insurance would be ableto cover such costs.

At the end of the session, Mr. Gluckreminded his audience that FIATA hasseveral standard documents that forward-ers might consider using in their busi-ness. The FIATA Model Correspondents’Agreement can be used to develop it intoan agreement with agents and correspond-ents around the globe. FIATA and Asso-ciation Members have developed FIATAModel Rules and other Standard TradingConditions that can be used for agree-ments with clients. The ABLM is also de-veloping guidelines for the prevention ofcyber crime and bribery, which will proba-bly be available to members in 2019.

B/Ls and safeguard its integrity. Mr. Brownintroduced the case of Nike, where custombrokers were held responsible for importingcounterfeit cargo without knowing that theshipper was in fact not Nike, but individualspretending to be Nike.

Mr. Narayanan pointed out that in thecurrent digital era, people tend to under-estimate the importance of data securityand the damage of cyber crime. Cyberrisks are real for both online activities – at-tacks on IT systems – and offline activities– fraudulently requesting confidential datafor shipments from careless employees.

Below is some valuable informationlearned from the Q&A session.

A) ThInGS TO nOTIcEwhEn ISSuInG nVOccBILLS OF LADInG

Mr. Mukundan: When NVOCCs issuebills of lading, it is important to makesure that the NVOCC B/L is uniquelyanchored to the Master B/L and the car-go. NVOCCs should make proper checksthat the shipment is really undertakingand Master B/L has been issued. If theunique connection is broken, multipleNVOCC B/Ls are referred to the samecargo and NVOCCs cannot prove thatproper due diligence has been conducted,then they may be legally accountable forthe damage.

B) SwITch BILLS OF LADInGMr. Narayanan: Switch bills of ladingare normally a second set of B/Ls, issuedby the carrier as requested by the parties,to prevent original seller and final buy-ers from knowing the identifies of eachother. Forwarders are recommended notto issue any switch bills of lading, as mal-practice can easily result in fraud, disputeand litigation. If there is a pressing needto do so, forwarder should make sure thatthey know clearly of the clients and theshipment and keep all documentation.

Mr. Mukundan: From the perspec-tive of banks, it is not allowed to havetwo documents of title to the same cargocirculating at the same time and throughdifferent banking channels. Banks wouldonly finance the switch B/L if the samebank holds both sets of B/Ls.

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ABSSAdviSory BodySAfty SeccurtiyThe Advisory Body Safety Security(ABSS) presented an in-depth agenda atthis year’s 2018 FIATA World CongressSession. The meeting began with shortupdates from the United States of Ame-rica and Australia.

Mr. Will Sehestedt updated mem-bers on relevant changes to the USA’s aircargo security activities, advising his audi-ence that US CBP’s Air Cargo AdvancedScreening programme (ACAS) went intoeffect in June 2018, requiring a set of ad-vance data to be filed with the CBP foranalysis before permission is granted forcargo to be loaded onto an aircraft boundfor the USA. He confirmed that the CBPwould be flexible in the first year of theprogramme, until June 2019, by not en-forcing penalties unless there were repeat-ed violations.

Mr. Sehestedt also provided an updateon a voluntary participation programmecalled C-TPAT; whereby US CBP wouldbe adding another tier of participation tothe programme, and minimum criteriawould be released next year.

Mr. Brian Lovell then updated mem-bers on changes to Australia’s air cargosecurity programme, advising them thatfollowing last year’s change, requiringpiece-level advanced screening of all aircargo to the USA, the programme wouldnow be expanded, with effect from the1st of March 2019, to cover all destina-tions, with the exception of cargo originat-ing from a regulated ‘Known Consignor’business. Mr. Lovell and Mr. Sehestedtwill keep FIATA updated throughout thedevelopment of both programmes.

Following these short updates, ABSSChair Mr. David Fielder advised dele-gates that the main discussion topic forthis session would address the rise ofautonomous vehicles, the risk to safetyand security in our industry, and howindustry and government can work to-gether to mitigate potential risks.The first panellist Mr. Pranav Manpuria,CEO of Flux Auto, a driverless truck tech-nology company in India, dealt with the

challenges of mitigating security concernsof such unit’s technology to regulatorsand the private sector, on a daily basis.He advised listeners that there were fivelevels of autonomous trucking, with hiscompany focusing on level three, whichrequired a driver to be in the truck at alltimes during its autonomous operation.

Mr. Manpuria highlighted the factthat autonomous truck technology wascollecting real-life data from drivers, toimplement the best driving habits in theirtechnology. His company and others hadaccumulated driving habit data from over100 truck drivers, which he argued wouldminimise the risk of accidents on theroad. He also highlighted that technol-ogy can replace serious issues of concernaround driver fatigue, and would help re-duce overall truck accident rates.

Following Mr. Manpuria the secondpanellist, Mr. Zeljko Jeftic, Automationand Security, Global Innovation at IRU,highlighted that there were two types ofplayers in the driverless truck space.

The first looked to manufacture theentire truck itself, and the second aimedto simply retro-fit technology onto anexisting trucks, enabling them to be au-tonomous. He emphasised the impor-tance for private sector actors to protectagainst threats in the field of cyber secu-rity, as autonomous trucks are likely to beconnected to each another, meaning thatonce a hacker gained access to the systemhe also gained access to the entire fleet ofautonomous trucks.

Mr. Jeftic further examined the dif-ference between modern-day theft involv-ing current trucks, versus those involv-ing autonomous trucks, asking whetherit would it be easier to steal truck keys,or to hack into a truck? He advised hislisteners that higher levels of automationwill most likely mean new types of crime.Questions regarding technically more ad-vanced vehicles, with a potentially biggerimpact, were issues that regulators andindustry needed to examine further.

Following these two engaging presen-tations, ABSS Vice-Chairman Mr. Lovellmoderated a panel session with questionsasked by the audience via a live app por-tal. Questions ranged from topics such

as who covers insurance in the case ofaccidents with autonomous vehicles,to whether the cost of driverless truckswould justify freight forwarders and themarket adopting this new technology.

ABSS Chair Mr. Fielder announcedthe closing of the meeting, remindingparticipants that the next meeting wouldbe held at the 2019 FIATA HQ Sessionin Zurich in March.

ABvt And fLA

AdviSory Body vocAtionALtrAining And fiAtALogiSticS AcAdemyThis session, containing several high-lights, marked the beginning of the fu-ture of learning at FIATA, through theFiata Logistics Academy (FLA). Mr. Jean-Claude Delen presented the book ‘Emer-gent Africa’, sponsored by the FFVT. Thebook is written by Dr. Francis Mangeni,Director of Trade, Customs and Mone-tary Affairs, Common Market for Easternand Southern Africa, and Prof. CalestousJuma, Professor of the Practice of Inter-national Development and Faculty Chairof the Innovation for Economic Devel-opment Executive Programme at Har-vard Kennedy School. Mr. Delen encour-aged FIATA members to read the bookand learn about the tripartite free tradearea, mechanisms of continental consoli-dation, the transformation of economicstructures as well as the development ofnew international trade relations.

Another highlight was signing of aTraining Agreement between the FIATALogistics Academy (FLA) and the WorldCustoms Organisation. Mr. Luc de Blieck,Deputy Director, Procedures and Facilita-tion Compliance&Facilitation Directo-rate, explained that the WCO is the globalcentre of customs expertise that continu-ously strives to share this expertise with itsmembers through various ways.

The WCO Secretariat received a con-siderable number of requests to access thee-learning courses by the private sector. Asa result, a brand new Customs e-learningportal was developed, the WCO Acad-

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emy. It is the private sector’s point of ac-cess to WCO’s expertise. This initiativebenefits small and medium-sized com-panies by disseminating knowledge tothe private sector around the globe. TheAcademy now wants to join forces withFIATA to add value to the managementof the supply chain. Mr. Delen lookedforward to fruitful cooperation betweenthe two organisations.

Mr. Dimitris Politopoulos, who isthe Project /Client Relations Coordina-tor with the WCO Academy, specifiedthat the WCO Academy’s audience con-sists of individuals and legal entities. Theyengage companies and associations. Thecourses are available in several languages.He mentioned some of the subjects avail-able. The Harmonised System is offeredunder industry-specific courses, Rulesof Origin, Valuation courses and WCOData Model, amongst others.

Mr. ThoMas siM, Chairperson aBVT, presenTedThe following sTaTisTiCs– Atotalof283TrainerCertificationswere

issued from 1/1 /2011–23 /9 /2018.– 61 programmes in 53 countries were vali-

dated once, 45 programmes in 41 coun-tries have been re-validated over the lastfour years.

– In the period 1 /1 /1996–23 /9 /2018a total of 14,461 FIATA Diplomas inFreight Forwarding were issued. Thisyear, from 5/3 /2018–23 /9 /2018, atotal of 743 diplomas were issued.

Mr. Thomas Sim then presented the fol-lowing validation certificates.– Singapore Logistics Association: Valida-

tion of the FIATA Diploma in FreightForwarding.

– ASOCIACION MEXICANA DEAGENTES DE CARGA, A.C.(AMACARGA): Validation of theFIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding.

– Lithuanian National Association ofForwarders and Logistics (LINEKA):Validation of the FIATA Diploma inFreight Forwarding.

– Association of National Freight For-warders of the Republic of Kazakh-stan: Validation of the FIATA Diplomain Freight Forwarding and Higher

positive about the journey.Mr. Sim stated that the mission of

FIATA in the future of learning should takereference to jobs, the workforce dynamic,demographics and different levels of eco-nomic growth. The future of education atFIATA needs to address these issues in avery dynamic manner. Jobs and employ-ment are the key drivers of change.

region afriCaMiddle easT(raMe)This year, the Region Africa Middle East(RAME) meeting aimed to focus on a setof key policy topics relevant in the regiontoday. With the new focus came a packedagenda, with high-level speakers from theAfrica and the Middle East. Despite thelong distance to travel to India, RAMEdelegates made the journey, in order toremain up to date on industry activi-ties and to identify how they can pledgefurther support to advance issues in theMiddle East and in Africa.

Mr.StephenNgatunga,RAMEChair-man, opened the meeting by welcomingthe participants. Wasting no time, hegave the floor to the RAME Young Inter-national Freight Forwarder of the Year,Ms. Tjaka Segooa, who highlighted herlong journey from South Africa to India.She also focused on the industry’s youth-ful future and portrayed much optimismtowards a sector that has often beenviewed as unappealing to younger gen-erations in the past.

Remaining on the theme of opti-mism, Mr. Bassil Eid, RAME Manager,advised delegates that the book ‘Emer-gent Africa’, which was co-authored byFrancis Mangeni and the late CalestousJuma, was ready to be released in Octo-ber. This highly-anticipated publication,to which FIATA has also contributed,will be made available to FIATA mem-bers free of charge. The book aims to havea profound impact on the continent, tohelp push forward trade agreements andfurther integration between states.Looking ahead, there were two very

Diploma in SCM.– Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and

Herzegovina: Validation of the FIATADiploma in Freight Forwarding.

– Federation of Malaysian Freight For-warders (FMFF): Validation of theFIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding.

– Indonesian Logistics and ForwardersAssociation (ILFA): Validation of theFIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding.

A Panel Discussion moderated byMr. Christian Doepgen, Editor-in-Chiefof the International Transport JournalITJ, followed. The panel participants in-cluded Mr. Delen, FFVT President andFIATA Past President; Mr. FrancescoParisi, FIATA Past President, Mr. SamirShah, an experienced freight forwardingprofessional who recently received thecertificate of merit from the WCO, andMr. Sim, ABVT Chairperson.

Mr. Parisi mentioned that in the courseof his over 40 years of work in freight for-warding he has become more and moreaware of the importance of training and ed-ucation. He has supported the training andeducation section at FIATA very strongly,because he believes it is one of the strong-est pillars of FIATA now and in the future.Mr. Delen looked forward to digitisationin train-the-trainer programmes and moretrain-the-trainer courses.

Mr. Shah talked about the challengesof logistics training in India and also fo-cused on the road forward. They are devel-oping a formal education model in India,namely the National Standards for QualityFactors. This programme offers a bridgecourse that provides credit for work expe-rience and completes it with training. Thegovernment has also agreed to implementan apprenticeship programme.

They conduct roadshows in thecountry for boys and girls, to showcasethe advantages of pursuing a logistics ca-reer. They have three large centres of ex-cellence for logistics training coming up.Technology is also used to reach out, us-ing logistics games, webinars, audio train-ings, etc. Audio training is preferred, be-cause people can listen to the course whilecommuting to and from work, for exam-ple. The fruits will take another three tofour years to be seen, but Mr. Shah is very

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strong contenders this year for the RAMEField Meeting 2019, with Lebanon andMauritius in the race. Both venues wereideal for the next field meeting, however,as the meeting has not been held in theMiddle East since 2015 (Dubai), delegatesopted to travel to Lebanon, where the nextfield meeting will be hosted by the Lebanese Forwarders’ Syndicate (LFS), makinga special effort to strengthen the bond between the two regions.

Chairman Ngatunga kept the meeting moving forward by introducing a panelsession moderated by Mr. David Philips,who invited Mr. Svilen Rangelov, CEO ofDronamics, to discuss the potential for cargo drones in emerging markets. Mr. Rangelov highlighted that a 1% increase in aircargo connectivity resulted in 6% growthin trade. He showcased a new mode forforwarders that was potentially 50–80%cheaper for a payload of 350 kg, and completely autonomous, removing the pilot.

It was not simply a drone, but a smallplayer in an entire ecosystem of dronescompletely controlled via satellite. Heenvisioned the future having what areknown as ‘droneports’, which requiredfar less infrastructure. Air cargo droneswould also completely reinvent air trafficcontrol, and would result in more directB2C deliveries, instead of having to connect at hubs for consolidation.

The next step would require collaboration among the key actors in the supplychain space, from regulators, airlines, andairline management companies.

The second panellist Mr. Samir Chaturvedi, CEO, KIZAD examined how hardinstruction feeds into the value of supplychains. He highlighted the fact that digitalisation and automation are trending in theforwarding industry, with governments nowfocusing on quality infrastructure development. He used China as a great example as itcontinues to invest in overseas infrastructuredevelopment, particularly in Africa.

Another example was the fast economic transformation of the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE) in just four decades. From roads to airports and telecommunications, the UAE is home toworldclass facilities that have supportedglobal economic growth. He moved to

showcase the work done with KhalifaPort and KIZAD; they aim to handle9 million TEU in the port by 2022, witha 15% reduction in logistics cost in keysectors. Moving back to Africa and theMiddle East, he emphasised the need forsustained investment in quality logisticsinfrastructure, to enable productivity andsustainable economic growth.

Following the panel, Mr. Ngatunga opened a discussion on expandingRAME’s membership in both the MiddleEastern and African regions. He calledon association heads in the region to takethe lead in establishing new associationmembers in countries where RAME doesnot have a presence yet, and also encourage more individual members in theirlocal countries to join FIATA. He askedeach volunteered delegate to provide anupdate at the next FIATA HQ Session oftheir activities, and to engage the secretariat for support.

In addition, Mr. Ngatunga appointed a RAME Deputy Chairman, to assisthim with the growing agenda. In order tomaintain the integration of both of theregions, Africa and the Middle East, itwas important that the deputy chairmanbe from the opposite region, in this casethe Middle East. He therefore appointedthe highlyrespected Mr. David Philipsto work hand in hand for the region’scommon interests.As time ran short, the Chairman closedthe meeting and thanked speakers andparticipants for their contributions. Helooked forward to welcoming them in

Zurich, Switzerland, for the 2019 FIATAHQ Session in March.

Region AmeRicAs(RAmns)The RAMNS Session featured a speaker,Mr. Enrique Canon, Director Generalof Uruguay Customs and Chair of theWCO, whose presentation was titled‘Outlook of the Future of Customs inthe Americas: The Trade Integration andFacilitation Perspective’. He mentionedthat though the world economy is still experiencing lukewarm expansion, growthis no longer synchronised.

Economic growth in the euro area,the United Kingdom, Japan, and a number of fragile emerging markets is slowing.While the US and Chinese economies arestill expanding, the former is being drivenby unsustainable fiscal stimuli. The significant share of global growth driven byChina and the United States is now being threatened by an escalating trade war.He then explained that, in terms of thetechnological revolution, it takes time forthe productivityenhancing effects of newtechnologies to have an impact.

Indeed, when radical innovationsare first rolled out, their immediate effect is to reduce, not raise, productivity.Mr. Canon named an example for the Internet of Things: the creation of a smartport in Hamburg. The port is moving towards intelligent infrastructure, incorpo

After long days of sessions, host FFFAI brought together bands and acrobats from all four corners of India to entertain the delegates.

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rating sensors and communication capa-bilities in its main assets. Thanks to radarwith automatic identification, the portauthorities know at all times what is beenmoved in the port, what is its origin anddestination, what are the expected deliv-ery times and what port services shouldbe deployed for proper handling.

This information is shared with allparties involved in the movement ofgoods, through an integrated informationplatform. Due to technological achieve-ments, such as digital technologies and3D printing, we currently face the chal-lenge of 100% digital cross-border trade,which would require dramatic changesin our Customs controls procedures andmechanisms.

RAMNS delegates then discussed Seaand Land transport issues in the Ameri-cas. In Argentina Maersk is working ona platform for forwarders and the portsin which it operates. The main aim is tocreate a logistics community, integratingblockchain and other technologies. Ini-tially, participation will be free of cost.

In Ecuador the government haslaunched new regulations for shippinglines. In the USA, the Federal MaritimeCommission (FMC) is moving forwardwith its Regulatory Reform PrioritiesPlan, by issuing a final rule reducing regu-latory burdens and expanding flexibilitiesfor ocean transportation intermediaries.It will issue a report in December, withmostly non-regulatory recommenda-tions, such as encouragement to makecargo more visible, reduce backlogs, and

opposed by FIATA’s associations.On Safety and Security ABIA Chair

Mr. Paul Golland informed his audienceabout the upcoming enforcement (from the1st of March 2019) of the Australian govern-ment’s new initiative of 100% piece-levelexamination of export air cargo. A discus-sion on x-ray vs. screening, cost burdens andhesitant support by the authorities followed.

The Deputy CAI Chair, Mr. SteveMorris, provided insight into recentwork done at the WCO for the establish-ment of a Framework of Standards fore-commerce.

For most economies this topic wasthe sleeping giant or the elephant in theroom, concerning how this was going totranslate into the business activities, par-ticularly for freight forwarders in the tra-ditional sense. Mindfulness is required,and not only by multinational compa-nies or express carriers. There needs tobe a recognition by all the members ofassociations that they participate activelywith their governments in looking to en-sure that there exists a level playing fieldbetween e-commerce and the traditionalway goods move across borders.

It is a strong position of CAI and astrong position of FIATA that the tra-ditional freight forwarder is not movedto the side simply to satisfy the bene-fits of the express carriers’ industry ore-commerce trade across borders.

As the main item of this RAP meeting’sagenda, a panel discussion was then mod-erated by Mr. Krishnan Chelliah, FIATAVice-President and Executive Director ofTransairmarine Freight Service Sdn Bhd,Malaysia, and the President of the Pen-ang Freight Forwarders’ Association.Mr. Chelliah introduced the panel topicthat was linked to the FWC main theme“The future starts here” and connected tothe RAP Meeting’s topic “the future de-pends on what you do today” – MahatmaGandhi. He introduced Mr. Bharat R.Joshi, the first speaker, with a presentationentitled ‘Logistics: Enabling a globalisedfuture in a connected world’.

Mr. Joshi’s career has spanned theroles of entrepreneur, author, socialworker and mentor. He is the author ofthe book ‘Navigating India – an 18 Tril-

probably put an innovation team in place.The FIATA Sea Working Group has

established a proposal for best practiceson demurrage and detention. It will pro-vide a description of each of the conceptsto achieve a standard understanding.Moving forward, carriers will continuegrowing their commercial position, com-ing into the area of international freightforwarders. Freight forwarders need tocontinue to re-invent themselves to makesure they can compete effectively.

This is seen in the context of Maerskgoing public on its collaboration withDamco. Maersk will combine its offer-ing for ocean products and supply chainservices, to be able to offer more compre-hensive end-to-end logistic solutions forcargo owners.

Concerning Vocational Training is-sues in the Americas, delegates were in-formed that AMACARGA, Mexico, wasre-validated in the 44th Validation Ses-sion. ALACAT also collaborates with theCamilo Jose Cela University in Madrid,Spain, to develop joint programmes infields such as customs, air freight andmaritime transport. In the next monthsit will be opened for the whole logisticscommunity to take part.

Region AsiAPAcific (RAP)RAP Chair Mr. Chris Kanter led a verylively meeting. In light of the meeting’stitle, which quoted Mahatma Gandhi’s“the future depends on what you do to-day”, several delegates raised issues ontopics pertaining to the freight forward-ing and logistics industry in RAP. Timewas running quite quickly with all theevolving exchange and discussions, wherea variety of information was delivered.

Information was given by the AFIChair, Mr. Keshav Tanna, about the pro-gress that followed two AFI interventionsat the IATA-FIATA Consultative Council(IFCC) related to cases where IATA hadmade demands related to financial crite-ria in Hong Kong, and on audited finan-cial statements in Singapore, which were

ners of India to entertain the delegates.

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INSIDE FWC 2018

lion $ opportunity’. Mr. Joshi providedhis thoughts on the following.– How do the international supply chain and

logistics enable world trade?– What are the challenges to the logistics

industry?– Planning for the future.– He pointed out some major developments

that have to be watched.The ABIA Chair and AFIF Australia

Chairman, Mr. Golland, then gave a presen-tation on the ‘The logistical issues of movingfreight within Australia’, and outlined theimpact the issues of distance, time, and a lackof road and rail systems have on moving car-go around and from city to city in Australia.

The Moderator initiated the panel ses-sion and queried Mr. Joshi.– What are top threats to international sup-

ply chains and logistics as we know today?– What must be done to address these

concerns?– If there is a silver lining, what is it?

Mr. Joshi replied that he sees tradewars and protectionism, which happen atgovernmental levels, as the biggest threat.These measures have the ability to frustrateexisting supply chains and the willingnessof buyers and sellers to do their business.Lastly he mentioned technology that canbe an enabler, but also a disruptor. Cybersecurity is becoming a huge concern. InIndia there is a massive debate about datasecurity and protection.

As a silver lining he saw new clustersand new frameworks emerging, which maybe resilient against larger obstacles that occu-pying our minds. The really big boys mightnot seem to be at eye level. However, mosteconomies are trying to find ways to coop-erate. Some of these structures will happeneconomically, politically, some both. He feltthat this might be the silver lining.

Many more comments, questionsand answers followed. In particular, theneed to involve the younger generationwas seen as a must and various voices wel-comed FIATA’s efforts in doing this. TheRAP then welcomed Ms. Sarah Skrypec,the YIFFYA RAP winner for 2019.

Chairman Mr. Kanter, reviewing theRAP Meeting, got all delegates’ agreementthat we enjoyed a lot of very interesting con-tents, thanking the panellists and members

for sharing their thoughts.He informed the audience of Unicorns

in Indonesia. During the last two years theyalready have four of them. One of them isworth USD 6 billion. This young generationoverpasses all other business with their short-term performance. One of the start-ups thatwas to become a Unicorn soon has a plan tomove its goods all over Indonesia by drone.

He urged his audience to remember that“our industry cannot stay and rest by doingthings the conventional way, otherwise we’lldefinitively be left behind. The future and theyoung generation must be given the roomto develop in a very positive way. Like this,logistics will always be ahead and remain animportant support of trade.”

REGION EUROPE(REU)The REU meeting was chaired byMr. Turgut Erkeskin from Turkey.

Mr. Shankar Shinde, President ofNasik Custom House Agents Association,reported on the INSTC, logistics connec-tivity in the ‘sea-rail link from India toRussia and Europe via Iran’, and men-tioned that the new Mumbai–Teheran–Europe transport corridor would rival the

Suez Canal route, as it allows for faster,cheaper and smother transit of goodsbetween Asia and Europe. The corridorreduces delivery times by ten to twelvedays. There are only few countries alongthe route, therefore there are less bordercrossings and it is easier for the countriesto reach agreements.

The route has few discontinuities,resulting in trans-loading. Challengesfor the route include gaining confidenceand the willingness to participate in thecorridor. Limitation of shipping lines be-tween Iran and India. Only shippers’ owncontainers can be transported on thisroute. There is a lack of sufficient logisticspartners. There is registration of import-ers and exporters at Russian ports and alimited availability of containers, as wellas an imbalance in cargo traffic and onlyfew service providers on the Caspian Sea.

In order to promote this route, com-petitive and consistent services are essen-tial. The services must be reliable, secureand safety measures must be implement-ed, and the harmonisation of customscross-border clearance operations andprocesses must be ensured. Sanctionsagainst Iran also represent a handicap tothe use of this corridor. The FIATA FBLwould be an excellent transport docu-ment for this multimodal transport ser-

India passed the batonon to South Africa’snational association,which will hostFWC 2019.

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INSIDE FWC 2018

vice, and the goods could travel under theTIR Carnet system.

Mr. Mohammad Saeed, InternationalTrade Centre (ITC), Geneva, reminded hisaudience that the ITC is a joint agency ofthe UN and the WTO. The WTO makesthe rules, UNCTAD does the trade policyresearch and consensus, and the ITC helpsthe business trade. The share of individualsusing ICT in the world has increased mas-sively over the last 20 years.

Similarly, the ICT industry rev-enues have doubled in the last ten years.According to the latest global marketstudy by International Data Corpora-tion (IDC), global ICT investmentwill hit USD 4 trillion in 2018 – withcloud services, software and hybrid ITinfrastructure driving it. Worldwidebig data market revenues for softwareand services are projected to grow fromUSD 42 billion in 2018 to USD 103 bil-lion in 2027, attaining a compound an-nual growth rate of 10.5%.

Digital commerce is expected to re-cord sustained growth. Cross-bordere-commerce is challenging traditional sup-ply chains and customs authorities. Expo-nential growth in the volume of shipmentsand the need for express delivery is build-ing an even stronger demand for efficientlogistics. The massive volume of shipmentsputs increasing pressure on internationaland domestic logistics industries.

Mr. Louis Perrin, United Kingdom,

were adopted in the summer(e.g. waiver for guarantees anddefinition of exporter).

– (New) concepts, such as CentralisedClearance and (Customs) Single Win-dows are becoming reality.

– Nonetheless, there is still discussions oninterpretation and harmonisation.

She reported that with a hard Brexitcomes closure. The second negotiationround regarding transition and future(trade) relationships started in February2018, but no agreement was concluded.Without a single market and without acustoms union the United Kingdom willbecome a ‘third country’ at 00:00 hoursCET on the 30th of March 2019.

Brexit will have a huge impact on theEuropean Union customs authorities, aswell as on the British government.– Thousands of new customs experts

(with the right skills) are needed in theEU and United Kingdom.

– IT systems need to be able to cope withmillions of extra declarations, notifica-tions and the like.

– On top of the re-assessment of existingcustoms authorisations, hundreds ormaybe even thousands of new authori-sations need to be assessed and granted.

– Awareness, and training on the aware-ness of the procedures, possibilities andthe risks of doing so.

Mrs. van der Jagt said that in 2019,new elections of the European Parliamentwill take place, and in addition there willalso be a new Commission.

The EU Commission is still hopefulthat a compromise or a general agree-ment can be concluded for the MobilityPackage. There is a debate on Cabotage,and she noted that people wanted to re-strict the free circulation of trucks, as wellas there being a trend towards protection-ism that can also be seen in Europe.

Posting of works is a similar issue tothe item concerning Cabotage. CLECATis in the process of lobbying for the to-tal exclusion of international transportfor the posting of worker’s legislation.The body started a new campaign, called‘posting of free transport’, in order tokeep up the pressure.

YIFFY Award Winner of the FIATA Re-gion Europe, felt that freight forwardersare in a dynamic and rapidly evolving pe-riod. Everything is about speed, visibilityand convenience. It is scary and it is chal-lenging, but it can also be exciting andopen up new opportunities – so we donot want to miss the boat.

Freight forwarder need to do this notonly for our own efficiencies but we needto do this for our clients. If firms reallyare client-focused, they will need to worryless about the challenges and more abouttheir clients, and not make clients workto their structures, passing them roundpeople and departments. They need toreverse-engineer processes and solutionsso that they are truly client-centric.

Traditional companies have em-braced technology and are even strongerwhen making full use of data, analytics,blockchain to provide transparency, re-liability and seamless integration acrosssupply chains. Players fail to move fastenough, however, and digital entrantswin a large share of the market, lever-aging technology to better manage sup-ply chains. Manual tasks are reduced asautomated digital systems are success-fully integrated. Global trade reverses,due to geopolitical conflicts and tradedisputes, lead to localisation, reshoring,and a focus on technologies such as 3Dprinting.

Mrs. Nicolette van der Jagt, CLECATDirector, referred to the new Union Cus-toms Code (UCC) and mentioned thatimplementation is an ongoing process; thereare no major issues, but it still requires quitesome efforts from the EU Commission, cus-

toms and the private sector.– Most authorisations (including

AEO) re-assessed (final dateMay 2019).– New systems, processes

and EU Customs DataModel to be implementedsoon.

– New AEO benefits andother simplification (forfreight

forwarders) are also beingimplemented.

– Important legal improvements

puts increasing pressure on international and domestic logistics industries.

Mr. Louis Perrin, United Kingdom,

are no major issues, but it still requires quite some eff orts from the EU Commission, cus-

toms and the private sector.– Most authorisations (including

AEO) re-assessed (fi nal date May 2019).– New systems, processes

– New AEO benefi ts and

forwarders) are also being implemented.

– Important legal improvements

FIATA Secretary Bob Voltman,Samir J. Shah (right), Mentor ofFWC 2018.

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outlook 2019


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ChaNCeS aNd ChaLLeNgeS ahead

Outlook 2019 for theInternational Logistics andFreight Forwarding Industry

Still just past mid-2018, and it isalready clear that this has been an

important year for the future of globaltrade and transport. The process ofchanges brought about in 2018 willlikely continue in the new year 2019,and FIATA will continue to observethe factors that have possible impactson the international logistics andfreight forwarding industry and assistits members whenever needed.

Uncertainties broUghtaboUt by trade WarThe most concerning factor for global tradein 2018 has, of course, been the prospectof a ‘trade war’ between the world’s twolargest economies. From mere speculationlast year, it has become a reality now. Asthese two leading economies are movingtowards imposing tariffs on each other’strade, worth billions of dollars, the trans-Pacific supply chain and trade routes willface substantial challenges that will havean impact on our industry.

Raising tariffs may seem to bringshort-term benefits, but in the longer termthey only damage the countries involved,and also damage the global economy atlarge. In addition, the disruption of themultilateral trade negotiation mechanism

would also be effected. FIATA, as the in-ternational organisation of logistics ser-vice providers and freight forwarders, feelsthat international trade is a fundamentalbuilding block for the development andprosperity of every economy; it has pub-lished a position paper to elaborate thisview (see link at the end).

We should be hopeful that the trendof globalisation will prove unstoppable,despite the disruptions and drawbacks.The existing supply chain and valuechain will adapt to the new challenges;so will international logistics serviceproviders and freight forwarders. For thecoming year 2019, the logistics industrywill prepare itself, together with its cus-tomers, both shippers and consignees,for these challenges.

FUrther steps intothe digital eraTechnological breakthroughs relevant tothe transport and logistics industry seemto have accelerated in the last couple ofyears, especially in combination with thedevelopment of e-commerce. Excitingnew concepts, such as unmanned vehi-cles, artificial intelligence, the Internetof Things, blockchain and big data allgive people a closer look at life in the fu-

ture. The rise of technology start-ups isredefining the industry’s business models,pushing the traditional practitioners torethink what they have got used to in thepast and what to change in the future.

The transport and logistics industry isexamining as well as trying out these newtechnologies. Some leading enterpriseshave been testing and commercialisingvarious kinds of autonomous vehicles,driverless robots, blockchain platforms,digital trade documents, and so on. Thesetrials require technological and financialresources, as well as time and risk toler-ance. For small and medium-sized enter-prises that possess limited resources, thereis no need to be afraid of these techno-logical changes. It would be good to startwith upgrading the operative system sys-tematically with new technology, whilekeeping an eye on technological develop-ments and implementation in the indus-try. When needed, joining existing plat-forms will also be a good choice.

It is one of the goals of FIATA in theupcoming year to keep our members in-formed of technological developments inthe industry and to help prepare themfor possible changes. Apart from updatesfor members at FIATA events, vocationaltraining is critical to keeping the indus-try up-to-date as regards new technology.FIATA is on the march to digitalise itstraining courses, starting with two cours-es; one is called ‘Introduction to GlobalLogistics Management’, and the otherone ‘Theory& Practice and MaritimeTransport’; they will probably already beavailable at the end of 2018.

digital and technological developments, trade facilitation mea

sures pushed by the Wto and sustainable policies supported by

the Un are just some of the aspects of Fiata president babar

badat’s outlook to the year 2019. albeit change is perpetual, the

freight forwarding industry will seize opportunities.

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outlook 2019

UN SUStaiNable Develop-meNt GoalS aND Wto traDeFacilitatioN aGreemeNtAs mentioned in FIATA’s Annual Report2017–2018 (see link at the end), FIA-TA continued its work with the UnitedNations (UN), the World Trade Organisa-tion (WTO) and other international gov-ernmental organisations that have an im-pact on our industry. FIATA participated inthe third annual UN High-Level PoliticalForum in New York, to highlight again theimportance of trade in achieving the UN’s17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Under the SDG, a critical aspect issustainable development and thereforesustainable transport and logistics. TheInternational Maritime Organisation(IMO) reached an encouraging agree-ment earlier this year that carbon emis-sions from the global shipping industrywill be cut at least in half by 2050.

FIATA is in full support of this initia-tive and will be more than happy to assistmembers in identifying proper tools toestimate carbon emission of every ship-ment, so clients are offered different lo-

large-scale investments in transport infra-structure initiated across the world willinvariably have a profound effect on thelogistics of tomorrow.

The ever-bigger container vessels(19,000 TEU and more) and the forma-tion of shipping alliances will affect theoverall maritime freight market, togetherwith revised trade agreements or eventrade wars. E-commerce will continue tointroduce new elements into traditionalimport / export procedures as well as cus-toms supervision.

The only unchangeable thing in thisworld is change itself. FIATA will con-tinue to work together with the industryto help it adapt to this changing busi-ness environment and help it to seize theopportunities. Babar Badat

President of FIATA

Links

1. FIATA Position Paper: Freight Forwarders, Logistics and the

Building Blocks of Free Trade, see https://fiata.com/fileadmin/

user_upload/The__Building_Blocks__of_Free_Trade.pdf

2. FIATA Annual Report 2017-2018, see https://fiata.com/file-

admin/user_upload/documents/Annual_Reports/Annual_Re-

port_2017-2018_watermark.pdf

gistics solutions with information abouttheir environmental impact.

The WTO is also becoming moreopen for the private sector to engage withtrade policy officials on the future of theindustry. Now that the WTO Trade Faci-litation Agreement (TFA) has been rati-fied, FIATA encourages all stakeholdersin the transport and logistics sector to getinvolved and ensure that future facilita-tion measures of countries are welcomedand implemented.

As the international logistics andfreight forwarding industry is closelyrelated to international trade, FIATAcalls on governments to put their com-mitments under TFA into practice andcreate a better environment to promotetrade and development. Such efforts ofFIATA in improving the service level ofour industry will definitely be continuedand further developed in 2019.

lookiNG iNto the FUtUreIn the new year there will be many otherfactors interacting to impact, shape anddefine our industry. The recently-planned

What lies ahead? FIATA President Babar Badat points out the good opportunities, despite the challenges.

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document7540006130180362897.indd 23 16.11.2018 13:50:35

PERSONALLY


Happy faces: The YIFFY of 2018, Louis Perrin (2nd f.l.) with Thomas Sim (1st f.l.), Chairman of F

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FFA

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ANd THe wINNer oF THe YIFFYA 2018 Is... LouIs PerrIN From BIFA

“Overhwelmed, relieved, proud and grateful”

standing.

Louis really enjoys his role in the lo-gistics and transport industry and is

grateful for the opportuntities that it hasprovided him with.

Louis began his career in the ware-housing with Hemisphere Freight Ser-vices Ltd sector eleven years ago, whilstcompleting a logistics and transportdegree. Time spent working in the Im-port Operations and Ocean Sales teamsfollowed, before Louis’s analytical andproblem-solving traits led him to the Pro-jects Team. There he was peer-nominatedfor promotion to Head of Projects. Louistakes huge pride in his clients’ products,delivering on their requirements, and hebelieves in developing open and honestpartnerships that are mutually beneficialfor clients, suppliers and partners alike.

What were the first thoughts thatwent through your mind whenyour name was announced as thewinner of the YIFFY award?The first thoughts that went through mymind were – “Damn! Another speech!”

The competition was tough,

but Louis Perrin from BIFA

left the regional winners from

the Americas, Kendyl Baptiste

(CIFFA), Africa, Tjaka Segooa

(SAAFF), and the Asia-Pacific

region, Sarah Skrypec (CBCF),

“my biggestchallenge isbeing patient.”

No, seriously, I was overwhelmed, re-lieved, proud and grateful – all at once!So much relentless hard work went intoboth my dissertation and the presenta-tion. It was an amazing opportunity, Iwanted to give it everything, so I’m ex-tremely humbled to have won this award,especially against such great finalists.

This award is not just for myself,though, it’s just as much for Hemisphereand its team, who have supported me

through the past eleven years, and whoworked incredibly hard to deliver greatlogistics solutions for our clients.

How do you think the award willhelp you develop your skills as afreight forwarder?The award provides the opportunity of twoweeks of academic and vocational training,which will add value in further developingmy industry knowledge and skills set.

document2031748694030066723.indd 24 16.11.2018 13:50:37


PERSONALLY

What are the main challenges ofyour job?I have big ambitions, so my biggest chal-lenge is being patient and not trying todo too many things at once.

I’m determined to make our cus-tomers’ and our teams’ lives easier andmore efficient when it comes to logistics.I aim to do this by utilising technologyto provide greater visibility of shipmentsas they travel through supply chains, and

gistics. They allow you to be have the ca-pabuility of handling any type of productthrough all modes of shipment, anywherein the world.

The FIATA Congress provided mewith the opportunity to meet so manylike-minded partners who we will workwith proactively. I’m always open to newpartnerships, ideas and opportunitiesthat will provide mutual benefits

What do you see as the mainchallenges facing the worldwidefreight forwarding industry?Currently there is so much geopolitical un-certainty which hugely impacts on logisticsand transport. From Brexit, to increasingtrade tariffs, which all have a knock-oneffect on the logistics industry too.

Also, technology is rapidly evolv-ing, and whilst it should provide greatbenefits, the implementation has chal-lenges. As you may have seen with Fe-lixstowe port’s new system integration,for example.

Finally, the industry must work hardto attract young people. We’re a sec-tor that has a wealth of knowledge andopportunities and it’s vital to share thiswith future generations.

Besides moving ahead in this in-dustry, what other goals are youpursuing in life?I recently got engaged to my partner ofseven years, and I’m really looking for-ward to our wedding in the next coupleof years.

to reduce laborious data-input tasks, sothat our teams can focus more on client-centred activities.

FIATA connects a big networkof freight forwarders within theindustry. How will you use thisnew recognition to expand yournetwork?Partnerships and networks that we workhard to develop are crucial factors in lo-

(1st f.l.), Chairman of FIATA’s ABVT, Mike Yarwood, TT Club (2nd f.r.) and Huxiang Zhao, FIATA Past President (1st f.r.).

proud and grateful”“The industry

must work hardto attract young

people.”

document2031748694030066723.indd 25 16.11.2018 13:50:38

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday!FIATA congratulates three well-known delegates on their birthdays.We wish them many more years of good health and happiness.

Mr. Gottfried Baumann (Switzerland)celebrated his 90th birthday on 15 Sep-tember 2018. A FIATA Delegate since1973, he became FIATA Treasurer in1979 and has been an Honorary BoardMember of FIATA since 1995.

Mr. Stephen Morris (Australia) celebra-ted his 70th birthday on 17 November2018. Since 2007, he has been a FIATAdelegate, became Chairman of CAI in2009 and 1979 and has been an Hono-rary Board Member of FIATA since 2017.

Mr. Peter S.P. Yang (Chinese Taipei)celebrates his 70th birthday on 14 De-cember 2018. A long-standing FIATAdelegate and representative at the Gen-eral Meeting, he became a FIATA Vice-President in 2009.

document6900549900817504130.indd 26 16.11.2018 13:51:19


HERE & THERE / AGENDA

11 – 12 February 2019

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Working Group Sea Transport

27 March 2019

Zurich, Switzerland

Working Group Road Transport

28 – 30 March 2019

Zurich, Switzerland

FIATA Headquarters Session

1 – 5 October 2019

Cape Town, South Africa

FIATA World Congress

Forthcoming EventsBi-monthly magazine of FIATA, the InternationalFederation of Freight Forwarders Associations

Circulation 6500 copies

Published by FIATA, the International Federationof Freight Forwarders Associations

Articles written by outside contributors do notnecessarily reflect the views or policies of FIATA.Intellectual property rights for contributedmaterial must be met by the contributors.

EditorFIATA, the International Federationof Freight Forwarders AssociationsSchaffhauserstrasse 104CH–8152 Glattbrugg/SwitzerlandTelephone +41 43 211 65 00Fax +41 43 211 65 [email protected]

Advertising salesFIATA Secretariat, telephone +41 43 211 65 [email protected]

ProductionDesign and printing:Swiss Professional Media AG, Basel

CopyrightNo article may be reproduced by any means in wholeor in part without the written permission of FIATA.

NEXT EDITION

MARCH 2019

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MEMBERSHIPS SPANNING ALMOST TWO GENERATIONS

Congrats on your loyalty!A number of companies around the world celebrated their 25th

anniversaries of membership of FIATA recently. On behalf of our

Federation, the Presidency of FIATA extends its congratulations to these

long-standing members. We thank you for your continued commitment

and look forward to a successful future for our international industry.

25 YEARS OF FIATA MEMBERSHIPCOMPANY COUNTRY

CROATIAN CHAMBER OF ECONOMY; INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT FORWARDERS ASSOCIATION OF CROATIA CROATIA

FOREIGN TRADE CHAMBER OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ; INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT FORWARDERS ASSOCIATION BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

FREIGHT FORWARDERS ASSOCIATION OF ROMANIA - USER - ROMANIA

POLISH INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT FORWARDERS ASSOCIATION - PIFFA - POLAND

TANZANIA FREIGHT FORWARDERS ASSOCIATION - TAFFA - TANZANIA, UNITED REP. OF

THE BULGARIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREIGHT FORWARDING, TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS - NSBS - BULGARIA

ZLZ SR - ASSOCIATION OF LOGISTICS AND FREIGHT FORWARDING OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC SLOVAKIA

document6900549900817504130.indd 27 16.11.2018 13:51:22

South Africa’s perfect blend of ingredients provides the ideal backdrop for this international Congress:

adventure, wildlife, magnificent scenery, rich cultural diversity, and efficient infrastructure. Few countries in the

world can match the fun, beauty and excitement you will find in South Africa.

At the foot of the vast continent of Africa is Cape Town, host city of the FIATA World Congress 2019, also known as

South Africa’s “Mother City”. Cape Town is set in a dramatic landscape of exquisite natural beauty, nestled between the

majestic Table Mountain and the sea, and is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

START PLANNING YOUR TRIP NOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF THIS OUTSTANDING DESTINATION!

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(AFRICA & GULF STATES)

2 0 1 7INTERNATIONALASSOCIATIONOF GOLF TOUROPERATORS

You are coming to Africa!This is your chance to experi-ence a unique once-in-a-lifetime Big Five Safari.Track these wild wild animals,live in luxury, dine under thestarry Southern skies andimmerse yourself in Africa.To book email:[email protected]

Consistently named one ofthe best conditioned coursesin South AfricaGolf DigestAnnual Top 100 – playing atSteenberg Golf Estate shouldbe on every serious golfers’bucket list. The golf packageincludes green fees, transport,meals and drinks. Signup forthe tournament when youregister for the Congress.

It’s not all hard work andno play! A varied selectionof day tours in and aroundCape Town is available forparticipants and partnerswho find that they havea free moment during theCongress week.To book visit:www.kingdomtt.co.za/fiata-2019/

Choose from among some ofCape Town’s most conven-ient Congress hotels, withprices and star-ratings to suitall budgets. Participants thatbook and pay in full before30 April 2019 will benefit fromspecial discounted accom-modation rates.

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