Freight bodies look to unite

That was the message that AFL master coach Kevin Sheedy gave to freight forwarders at the Australian Federation of International Forwarders (AFIF) conference in Hobart last week in a timely speech.
Mr Sheedy advised delegates always to allow themselves time for self-development.
“I am 61 and I will be developing all the way through,” he said.
AFIF chairman Paul Golland spoke of an opportunity that his body and the Customs Brokers and Forwarders Council of Australia (CBFCA) has long been attempting to grasp – a single industry body.
Two sub-committees had produced two papers on who would qualify to become a single industry body member and how voting rights would be handled to determine the board and its make-up, Mr Golland said.
The AFIF board had adopted both principles and was now awaiting CBFCA approval.
Following that approval, the process would be accelerated over the next financial year.
“We are working on approval for a new financial criteria for International Air Transport Association agents which needs to be written to ensure our members are not disadvantaged,” Mr Golland said.
“We have also approved the first stage of our education program which will deliver up to $110,000 for developing the framework of our degree course including the selection of the university we want to work with.”
Meanwhile, after lobbying the Australian Tax Office and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, AFIF was hopeful of a resolution to the Federal Government’s position regarding GST on Deliver Duty Paid and Delivery Duty Unpaid shipments and exports in the Federal Budget.
During the airfreight forum, Cathay Pacific regional cargo manager Allan Hine said his company had rejected the Airbus A380 due to it being unable to take a full complement of passengers and freight at the same time.
“Get back to us when it can”, was the message he gave.
The airline was not expecting a cargo rebound until 2011 and, in the meantime, “we are grabbing whatever opportunities we can”, Mr Hine said.
Air New Zealand regional cargo manager for Australia Vicki Park said her company had cancelled a freight plane order because of falling trade with the US, Germany and China.
In a reflection of the tough times, Qantas Freight commercial head, Theo Triantafillides said his firm believed things were “going to get worse before they got better”.