The UK trade association for freight forwarders, the firms that arrange international shipping by air, road, rail and sea, based in Feltham, Middlesex.
The British International Freight Association, or BIFA, is the main trade body for UK-registered freight forwarders. A freight forwarder is a company that organises the movement of goods across borders on behalf of the businesses that make or sell them, arranging transport by air, road, rail and sea, and often handling the customs paperwork too. BIFA has more than 1,700 members, and it is a not-for-profit company owned by its members and run by a small full-time team.
Wikipedia says BIFA was founded in 1944. Its stated mission is to prepare the industry for the future by representing members to stakeholders, promoting the industry to the next generation, and keeping members informed about changes in freight, customs and sustainability. Its values are listed as supporting, respectful, trusted, teamwork, practical, and energy and drive. Members trade under the BIFA Standard Trading Conditions, a set of contract terms widely used by UK forwarders and tested in the courts.
The association is based at Redfern House in Feltham, Middlesex. Its members are forwarders from across the UK, and it holds regional meetings for them, although the pages we read do not name the regions. BIFA speaks to government and international bodies, including HM Revenue and Customs as part of a customs consultative committee, and it is the UK national association member of FIATA, the international federation of freight forwarders' associations.
BIFA's culture is shaped by being a small team serving a big industry. It has four full-time trainers, who it says have more than 100 years of experience between them, and it runs a Young Forwarder Network for newer people in the trade. It publishes the BIFAlink magazine, holds a national conference and presents Freight Service Awards each year. It also helped establish the freight forwarding apprenticeship, which shows how directly it links to the next generation. Policy groups and an Air Cargo Community Advisory Body bring members together to agree what the industry needs.
The roles inside BIFA include trainers, policy and technical advisers who answer members' questions on customs rules and security declarations, events and communications staff, and administrators. The industry it serves is wide, covering customs brokers, air cargo, shipping and trade compliance, so a visit to its website is a good way to find out what working life is like in freight. Subjects like geography, languages, business and law all come in useful in international trade.
Website: www.bifa.org
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