CIFFA 2024 Fall Forwarder

26 THE FORWARDER | FALL 2024 FIATA’s World Congress took place September 22-27 in Panama City, Panama, and brought together 878 leaders, experts, and stakeholders from the global logistics and freight forwarding industry from 85 territories. The event was hosted by Asociación Panameña de Agencias de Carga (APAC). Full plenary sessions were held on September 25 and 26, with FIATA’s internal institute meetings on the 24 th . The Multimodal Transport Institute Meeting , chaired by Mark Bromley, covered topics on Road and Rail, including digitization, the ongoing driver shortage, and the creation of a handbook which will be discussed at a subsequent meeting. Working Group Rail chair Ole Hagen noted that the UIC (International Union of Railways) is working on a new project, a handbook and toolkit for multimodal corridors in which rail plays a major part. Lots of stakeholders are involved, but it’s mainly with UIC that marketplace seminars will be carried out. Another initiative is a new report from FIATA looking at the different modes of transportation. Freight forwarders have challenges using rail-there is a lack of infrastructure investment in many countries. The FIATA Advisory Body on Information Technology is carrying on work on a CTU code and the creation of an app, announced ABIT’s Tej Contractor, Director at MCC Container Lines Pvt. Ltd. When consol cargo is stuck at origin, due to various conditions, insurance claims become complex. The CTU app aims to offer a seamless way to ensure containers are secure, compliant, increase transparency and reduce risk. It is a checklist where you can record how the goods have been loaded into a container. Working Group Sea Chair Jens Roemer went through a summary of conditions for maritime trade this year, including a discussion of the U.S. East Coast with labour contracts expiring. He noted that the global supply chain relies on the freight forwarding industry to be innovative and find solutions if others fail. The group is working on its advocacy for a level playing field with shipping lines. On Sept 23 the Federal Maritime Commission announced a final rule on vessel space accommodation-protection against unreasonable refusal of shipping lines to refuse cargo, (bookings not accepted for possibly invalid reasons). FIATA lobbied and contributed extensively on this issue, and this “proves that regulators are listening”, Roemer said. Working Group C has identified, as areas of focus, advocacy for a level playing field for freight forwarders acting as carriers, and will also look into demurrage and detention billing practices. Working Group C will also issue a best practice guideline for freight forwarders on how to register as a self-filer on bills of lading. ABLM-WG Sea Taskforce held a discussion on unfair contractual business practices imposed by shipping lines. There are monthly meetings with cargo integrity groups- these are great opportunities to get FIATA a lot of recognition and in this context we are proud to have observer status within the IMO, he noted. Steve Parker, chair of FIATA’s Customs Affairs Institute, spoke about support to the industry on the implementation of pre-loading advance cargo information (PLACI) in a cross-body taskforce- working with the ABSS. (Advisory Body on Safety and Security). In a discussion about the electronic bill of lading as a document of title and trust, what is stopping the circulation and use of it? The challenge is not technology but acceptance. The FITT alliance, “Future of International Trade”, whose key objectives of the FIT Alliance are to raise awareness and accelerate adoption of a standards-based electronic bill of lading (eBL) across all sectors of the shipping industry, is working on standards. But electronic records transmission is not well accepted by nations around the world. Airfreight Institute Discussion Topics raised during the Airfreight Institute discussion included questions about IATA’s creation of a LCC-Local Consultative Council, and whether an explanatory document will be created. FIATA will clarify this a bit. Canada is unique in that there is a Joint Council and a LCC, where the LCC is meant to be more local, Canada a bit of a one off. CIFFA is an independent trainer on dangerous goods, and asked FIATA to clarify on the IATA requirements for a signed certificate/ endorsement letter per certificate. FIATA World Congress