CBFFAJ celebrates 55th anniversary - President hails members as ‘resilient, brave, committed’

The Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association of Jamaica (CBFFAJ) is this year marking their 55th anniversary as the foremost professional body engaged in customs clearance and third-party logistics in the movement of goods in and out of Jamaica.

At a recent church service to mark the milestone anniversary of the CBFFAJ, the president of the association, Clive Coke, described his colleague customs brokers as ”resilient, brave and committed as they rose to meet the moment of the times” at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April of 2020.

Coke told the congregants of the Kingston Open Bible Church that during the lockdown of the economy, customs brokers worked tirelessly to clear vital imports of food and medicine in order to keep the nation’s shops, supermarkets and pharmacies stocked with supplies. “We donned our N-95 masks and worked in places angels would fear to tread to keep the supply lines open,” he said.

“We are essential workers and professionals operating at all of Jamaica’s ports of entry and exit; and without us, the business of trade and commerce as we know it, would not be the same”, added Coke. “I am proud that at 55, we have the history, traditions and technical expertise to consistently deliver outstanding value to our clients and to the nation. We will press on with due care and respect for our hard-working staff, for whom we have established telecommuting arrangements and adapted work processes to keep them employed,” noted Coke, speaking on behalf of the over 200 member companies of the CBFFAJ and its secretariat staff.

“In good times and bad times, we will give thanks for what we have, and we will always choose to see the ‘glass half-full and not half-empty’,” the CBFFAJ president added.