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International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Who is IATA? (Taken from: www.iata.org)
"The International Air Transport Association - was founded in Havana, Cuba, in April 1945. It is the prime vehicle for inter-airline cooperation in promoting safe, reliable, secure and economical air services - for the benefit of the world's consumers. The international scheduled air transport industry is now more than 100 times larger than it was in 1945. Few industries can match the dynamism of that growth, which would have been much less spectacular without the standards, practices and procedures developed within IATA.
At its founding, IATA had 57 members from 31 nations, mostly in Europe and North America. Today it has some 240 members from more than 140 nations in every part of the globe.
The modern IATA is the successor to the International Air Traffic Association founded in the Hague in 1919 - the year of the world's first international scheduled services." ukimports.org
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Why do I need to know about IATA?
If your goods are arriving into the country by airfreight, there is a possibility that the rate per kilo shown on your airwaybill is not the amount paid by the freight forwarder. In order for a freight forwarder to hide its preferential rates, not necessarily from you, the importer, but more so, from other freight forwarders... the competition.
IATA issues rates between destinations, which act as a guideline for how much is charged for airfreight shipments. When the freight forwarder raises an airwaybill, they have the option of using the exact rate or rating the airwaybill at the IATA rate.
Therefore, ask your freight forwarder about the rate shown. ukimports.org
