20thanniversary www.bifa.org ADVERTORIAL Insurance victory was ‘high point’ The battle to de-regulate freight forwarders in their cargo insurance activities remains the most notable <strong>BIFAlink</strong> <strong>cover</strong>age to date, according to cargo and cargo liability broker Peter Bridges, Dartford branch director with Bluefin, a BIFA associate. The company, which incorporates a number of brokers, including the Davis Group, employs 3,000 people in 80 UK offices, and specialises in insurance solutions for importers, exporters, freight forwarders and logistics services operators. Cargo insurance business through forwarders was decimated when FSA registration became a necessity in 2005. <strong>BIFAlink</strong>’s <strong>cover</strong>age kept BIFA’s lobbying at the forefront of the industry, which meant that the customer base could be re<strong>cover</strong>ed once FSA registration ended. An avid reader of <strong>BIFAlink</strong> since its inception, Mr Bridges has always appreciated articles centred on the incorporation of trading conditions, the role that international conventions play in overriding those conditions – and the impact of common law in setting aside those conditions if not correctly instituted. Bluefin would be keen to make an input to future articles on such subjects. “We have to provide a lifeline for the membership where their business could be under threat if we do not provide them with the correct insurance <strong>cover</strong> to back up the international conventions,” said Mr Bridges. Having such issues aired by <strong>BIFAlink</strong> means that insurers can then use the magazine as a reference when pointing out changes that might impact on insurance <strong>cover</strong>. “It helps to consolidate it,” said Mr Bridges. “<strong>BIFAlink</strong> fulfils this role and when it falls on the mat, I wonder what is going to be in it this month,” he added. The 9/11 terrorist attack on New York’s Twin Towers in 2001 impacted on all freight modes ❝<strong>BIFAlink</strong> has regularly updated readers on the STCs, which are a prerequisite for BIFA membership ❞ exclusive to BIFA members and <strong>cover</strong> aspects such as liability of the forwarder, compensation and importer and exporter responsibilities for accuracy of goods descriptions, for instance. <strong>BIFAlink</strong> has regularly updated readers on the STCs, which are a prerequisite for BIFA membership, most notably a major re-vamp in 1999, emerging as the 2000 STCs, and in 2004, heralding the 2005 STCs to reflect changing insurance legislation. <strong>International</strong> transport Issues raised in connection with international transport conventions governing each mode could hardly be described as scintillating, but they do need to be frontline <strong>cover</strong>age for an essential trade publication like <strong>BIFAlink</strong>, which has stoically reported on the long road towards a revised UN Convention on Contracts for the <strong>International</strong> Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea. The writing was on the wall in 1997 when <strong>BIFAlink</strong> noted US plans to update its Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA) to <strong>cover</strong> door-todoor transport involving all entities – including freight forwarders. Not surprisingly, this multimodal approach was followed by proposed changes to the <strong>International</strong> Convention with UN draft proposals surfacing in 2008 and being adopted in 2009 as the Rotterdam Rules. Although the new rules have been signed by 21 countries, no national ratifications have yet taken place. It will need 20 such ratifications for the Rotterdam Rules to enter force. There are, as <strong>BIFAlink</strong> has highlighted, a number of shortcomings, not least the fact that the rules are considered far too complex, create a need for higher insurance <strong>cover</strong>, lack case law, and introduce ‘maritime performing parties’. In consultation meetings with the Department for Transport, 16 October 2010
we are proud to have been associated with 20 years of <strong>BIFAlink</strong> advising and providing BIFA members with all their required insurance needs for more information please contact us +44 (0) 1628 532613 info@peter-lole.co.uk Saturn House, Mercury Park, Wycombe Lane, Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire, HP10 0HH
Change language