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| Saturday, 26 June 2004 |
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Freight forwarders to make OFIT submissions The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders Association (SLFFA) Rohantha Peiris said that the association should make submissions with regard to an Ocean Freight Import Terminal (OFIT) being manned by SLFFA. "We should renegotiate with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and Customs in this regard," he said. Speaking at the annual general meeting of SLFFA as the Chairman, said that it was his goal that SLFFA receives all the recognition necessary to grow within the industry. "With this in mind, I hope to further develop our relationship with the Department of Civil Aviation and the Airport and Aviation Services, Inland Revenue Department, Department of Exchange Control, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Central Freight Bureau and work closely with these institutions. It is my objective to get the Association involved in the policy making committees of these institutions," he said. With the rapid growth in the Indian freight and shipping industry, it is my view to formalise the charges imposed on import shipments from the Indian sub-continent. A regulation of this activity must be in place. In order to proceed with such actions, it is vital that SLFFA have regular dialogue and have close relations with the Exchange Control Department. Sri Lanka should also focus on the Standard Trading Conditions which need to be updated with latest regulations. "We will look at the Malaysian Standard Trading Conditions which we could review and update the SLFFA, STC accordingly," he said. SLFFA hopes to continue to provide our support and cooperation to the EDI project and encourage the present government to instigate all activities involving this project to enable the system to be in operation as soon as possible. This would be extremely beneficial to the shipping community, exporters, freight forwarders, customs, ports authority, and the Sri Lankan economy as a whole. The standards at the air cargo village have been improved and we will continue to closely monitor all activities at the village and enhance the service levels, further develop new innovative ideas to manage it in a more efficient manner. I also expect to have a close and cordial relationship with Sri Lankan Airlines on all ground handling matters. During the last two years, the Association has made special efforts in organising numerous training and educational programs for the staff of member organisations. "We will continue to organise more training programs in a wider scale with the assistance of the Australian Federation of International Forwarders. We should not put aside the vision of our outgoing Chairman to establish a SLFFA Training Institute and Secretariat," he said. Today, SLFFA has a membership of 79 members in total. (SS) |
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