The British International Freight Association has highlighted the role of freight forwarders in helping UK businesses navigate a decade of post-Brexit trade complexity.
The British International Freight Association is marking ten years since the Brexit referendum by recognising the role played by its members in helping businesses adapt to the most significant change in UK trading conditions in a generation. Brexit fundamentally altered the movement of goods between the UK and the European Union, transforming what had previously been largely frictionless trade into a complex process involving customs declarations, rules-of-origin paperwork, VAT and duty procedures, safety and security requirements and, for many sectors, sanitary and phytosanitary controls. Over the past decade, freight forwarders have expanded customs brokerage operations, developed specialist post-Brexit logistics services and invested in technology and staff training to help importers and exporters navigate continually evolving UK and EU regulations.
The transition presented significant challenges across the industry. Groupage services were particularly affected, with consolidated shipments requiring multiple customs entries and checks. Food, agricultural and live animal movements faced some of the greatest hurdles as a result of enhanced biosecurity and sanitary controls, while Northern Ireland emerged as one of the most complex trading frontiers in Europe. Studies suggest UK-EU trade remains around 10 to 20 per cent below the level it might have reached without Brexit, though the freight forwarding sector has responded by making customs and compliance services a core capability. Steve Parker, Director General of BIFA, said Brexit had made UK-EU trade harder, more costly and more administratively demanding, but that BIFA members had become indispensable partners to importers and exporters by providing the expertise and innovation needed to keep goods moving in a more complex trading environment.
Source: British International Freight Association
