Robert Keen, who is the director general of the British International Freight Association (BIFA), has been elected secretary general of the Presidency of FIATA, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations.

In a statement, the organization said two members of the BIFA Board have been elected, or confirmed as chairs of FIATA’s institutes.

It said Keen joined the industry in 1970 and worked for a succession of forwarders before joining BIFA in 1999. He was appointed an executive director of BIFA in 2009, before becoming director general in 2014.

He has also been chair of FIATA’s Multimodal Transport Institute and a member of FIATA’s Extended Board for several years; and has been replaced as chair of the former by Mark Bromley from Always International Freight Forwarding, whilst Steve Parker from DHL, has been re-elected as chair of FIATA’s Customs Affairs Institute.

Meanwhile, John Stubbings from Woodland Transport continues as a delegate to FIATA’s Advisory Body Legal Matters.

Mark, Steve and John are all past chairs of BIFA and continue to service as directors on the UK trade association’s Board.

"I am honoured to have been elected and also pleased that BIFA continues to have a strong presence within the organisation that represents the world’s trade associations for freight forwarding and logistics companies," Keen said.

"My election comes at a time in which FIATA is conducting a comprehensive Reset Programme and I look forward to helping the association to build on the excellent work that has already been achieved," he added.