Shipping Minister launches FIATA Bill of Lading in India

At the recently concluded 24th biennial convention, Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations’ in India (FFFAI) signed an MoU with FIATA to launch FIATA Bill of Lading (eFBL) in India. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal formally launched it. “The implementation of eFBL will empower MSME customs brokers and Freight Forwarders Members of FFFAI to issue their own Bill of Lading using FIATA network. It will leverage the logistics industry without depending upon Liner Bill of Lading for Multimodal transportation and enhance their capability to enhance business thinking towards owning own container and establish Indian Flag registered Shipping Line,” said Shankar Shinde, Chairman, FFFAI. The Minister stressed upon the growing importance of an IT-driven logistics industry for faster cargo movement from manufactures to consumers across the globe. “FFFAI’s initiatives in this regard through services such as eFBL would make Indian products to reach their destination in less time and cost, which, in fact, will make the Indian products more competitive internationally,” he said.