The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) have formally launched an agreement to implement a new air cargo program that better reflects the new business models and the buyer-seller relationship that exist today between forwarders and airlines.
FIATA president Huxiang Zhao and IATA senior vice president for Industry Distribution and Financial Services Aleks Popovich on October 7 signed the cooperation agreement for the launch of the IATA FIATA Air Cargo Programme (IFACP), which replaces the existing IATA Cargo Agency Program (ICAP). The new air cargo program was signed last July.
FIATA said that for the decades that the ICAP has operated, IATA cargo agents (freight forwarders) have evolved from being “selling agents” for airlines to being their “purchasing customers.” Thus, IATA and FIATA in 2012 joined forces to review, refine, and re-engineer the ICAP.
FIATA said IFACP will move decision-making on the rules governing the airline-forwarder relationship away from an airline-led conference to a governance body-IATA-FIATA Governance Board that is jointly managed by forwarders and airlines, which reflects today’s market conditions.
Popovich earlier said that the IFACP also provides a framework to ensure that industry standards are relevant, pragmatic, and fit for their purpose.
“These standards cover the endorsement of freight forwarders and more broadly the safe, secure and efficient transportation of air cargo shipments,” Popovich added.
Rudi Sagel, chairman of FIATA’s Airfreight Institute, said IFACP will eliminate unnecessary administrative procedures and costs as well as free up valuable resources to tackle the complex challenges that today’s global trade presents. These include regulatory compliance, safety and security, and the introduction of new technologies.
“This agreement paves the way for a more successful future for the fastest and most fascinating mode of international transport,” Sagel noted.
FIATA said the program has no immediate impact on the current IATA cargo agents as the participants of the IATA Cargo Agency/Intermediary Program will be provided with a new IFACP when the program implementation process begins in their country. When the completed agreement is executed and received, the endorsed freight forwarder will join the new program with no further assessment required.
New entrants will be granted access to the IFACP in accordance with the program’s rules, which are designed to be more reflective of how the air cargo business functions in today’s market.
The phased rollout of IFACP will begin in early 2017 with Canada as the pilot country, and the full global rollout is expected to be completed by end-2018.
Image courtesy of etaphop photo at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
