Forwarding, Freight News

BIFA boss pledges to cut through Ulster Gordian Knot

[ July 2, 2026   //   Chris Lewis ]

BIFA director general Steve Parker says he plans to meet with politicians and officials to try and reformulate Northern Ireland’s customs status. With a new version of the Trader Support System (TSS) due to launch in January, he says that the province’s customs status is currently unclear and indeed, “messy”.

Northern Ireland has a possibly unique status in that it is simultaneously part of two customs territories – the UK  and the European Union – with its border not the physical one with Ireland but an invisible line drawn in the Irish Sea. This has led to complex and ill-und understood customs procedures.

“It is a hybrid system,” Parker confirmed. “And I’m not sure it has been quite embraced. I’ve agreed to go back and meet officials to try and reformulate it.”

BIFA meanwhile has boosted its online training courses with a hazardous goods module added in May to be followed by another on export licensing due to follow in summer, in line with the association’s ambition to add a new course every three months or so.

BIFA has also continued its links with the Ethiopian freight sector, helping it in its efforts to establish its own trade association. It has also been working with the freight industry association in Ukraine including helping nationals exiled in the UK.