Surjit Bhujabal, IRS, Member (Customs), CBIC, inaugurated the Southern Chapter of the Indian Institute of Freight Forwarders (IIFF) on November 26, 2024, in Chennai. IIFF is the training and skill development arm of the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI).
The Southern Chapter was launched in association with the Chennai Customs Brokers Association (CCBA). The inauguration program witnessed the gracious presence of Dr. Ram Niwas, IRS, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Chennai Zone and S. Viswanathan, IAS, Deputy Chairman, Chennai Port Authority.
Dushyant Mulani, Chairman, FFFAI; Amit Kamat, Chairman Elect, FFFAI; Shankar Shinde, I.P. Chairman, FFFAI; R. N. Sekar, President, CCBA; S. Nataraja, Secretary, CCBA; Sudip Dey, Hon. Secretary, FFFAI; and Advisors A.V. Vijayakumar, P.S. Krishnan, and S. Ramakrishna were also present on this occasion.
Senior functionaries from the Indian Institute of Freight Forwarders (IIFF), led by Tej Contractor, President; Dr Nirav Thakker, Secretary; Dr. Pramod Sant, DG, FFFAI; and Chaitaly Mehta, Convenor of FFFAI Women’s Wing, attended the program.
The event was also attended by a large number of candidates from Chennai and other associations. It is pertinent to mention that apart from CCBA, the Southern Chapter of IIFF is constituted by Custom House Agents Thiruvanthapuram, Bangalore Custom House Agents Association Ltd., Cochin Customs Brokers’ Association, Coimbatore Customs House & Steamer Agents Association, Custom Brokers Association Hyderabad, The Kakinada Customs Brokers Association, Mangalore Customs House Agents Association, Tuticorin Custom Brokers Association, and Visakhapatnam Customs Brokers’ Association. The president of the Brihanmumbai Custom Brokers Association also attended the inauguration ceremony.
In his inaugural address, Member (Customs) CBIC Surjit Bhujabal emphasized the critical role being played by customs brokers in facilitating international trade and the ease of doing business. Complimenting FFFAI and CCBA for their commendable initiative of launching the IIFF skill development chapter in the southern region of India, Bhujabal advised having a special focus on supporting the women entrepreneurs and MSME sector through this skill development exercise. In view of the changing eco-system of global trade as well as CB business due to the fast emergence of IT (AI, blockchain technology, etc.), digitization and faceless assessment, customs brokers need to cope with the current trends and challenges by enhancing skills.
According to him, it is very encouraging that FFFAI has taken the much-required capacity-building initiative. Bhujabal pointed out that customs brokers, the intermediary between customs and exim trade, have a big role in achieving the $5 trillion economy of India by 2025.
He invited FFFAI for further collaboration with CBIC to achieve the set goal. Welcoming the dignitaries and august gathering FFFAI Chairman. Dushyant Mulani highlighted the importance of skill development for the end-to-end logistics industry, including customs broking and freight forwarding. He maintained that the training courses and endeavors of FFFAI through IIFF created a new chapter in the success story of the logistics industry in the country as regards acquiring domain knowledge. “Knowledge is the power of any business. This industry needs a significant number of skilled manpower to reach the country’s goal of becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047. FFFAI, with its training arm IIFF, is committed to fulfilling the target set by the Government of India,” Mulani said.
Shankar Shinde emphasized the generation-next and women professionals for attracting them to this lucrative sector in terms of career opportunities. According to him, the customs broking business needs adequate training, skills and domain knowledge similar to lawyers or CA professions.
Speaking on this occasion, S. Viswanathan highlighted the importance of trained manpower in end-to-end logistics operations. He invited more collaborations between Chennai Port and industry stakeholders in meeting challenges and grabbing opportunities. He praised FFFAI and CCBA for their endeavors in skill development and trade facilitation.
R N Sekar, President, CCBA, welcomed the gathering and the dignitaries and conveyed that CCBA is committed to training and skill development. He also informs that, along with other CB associations in the region, they plan to take forward the initiatives of IIFF in the region.
Guest of Honor Dr. Ram Niwas emphasized imparting training to the CB community, who are the key factors behind the success story of the Exim industry in the country. He also lauded FFFAI for creating job opportunities by providing required education and training to the aspirants. He is confident that IIFF would position itself as a very attractive institution like IIM in the logistics sector soon.
The Indian Institute of Freight Forwarders (IIFF) was founded in 2005 and is a prestigious organization that plays a vital role in promoting and developing customs brokers, freight forwarders and logistics service providers in India.
Meanwhile, IIFF has trained thousands of youths and women for their active involvement in the field of customs clearance and logistics. IIFF is the only institute in India accredited by FIATA to offer its diploma courses.
The prime objectives of FFFAI-IIFF are to:
1. Promote professionalism in the field of Customs Clearance
2. Integrate Freight Forwarding and Logistics with Customs Clearance
3. Reskill and upskill the existing Custom Brokers, Freight Forwarders and their operating staff
4. Create a vision for growth and compliant trade environment
5. Enhance industry standards and adopt best practices
6. Generate opportunities for first-time entrepreneurship
7. Emphasize the use of Digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence
8. Create a pool for manpower resources with latest learning tools and digital technology
9. Creating higher inclusion of women in the field of Customs Clearance and Logistics
IIFF has tied up with prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Kolkata for providing the most professional training modules to its members and their employees. This will provide professionalism in the customs clearance and logistics services.
Subsequent to the inauguration ceremony, important training sessions on digitalization in the fields of customs clearance and compliance management were held to benefit the members.
The Inauguration programme was concluded with a vote of thanks from S. Nataraja, Hon. Secretary, CCBA. He conveyed his gratitude to CBIC, Chennai Port, FFFAI and supporting associations and members for their focus on training and skill development, which will be the backbone of professionalism in this sector.
