The International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (or FIATA, French: Fédération Internationale des Associations de Transitaires et Assimilés) is a non-governmental organization representing 40,000 forwarding and logistics companies, employing 8 to 10 million people in 150 countries. It was founded in Vienna, Austria, on 31 May 1926.
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FIATA has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) (inter alia ECE, ESCAP, ESCWA), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
It is recognised as representing the freight forwarding industry by many other governmental organisations, governmental authorities, private international organisations in the field of transport such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Union of Railways (UIC), the International Road and Transport Union (IRU), the World Customs Organization (WCO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), etc.
Just before the World Congress 2001 in Cancún and on the occasion of FIATA's 75th Anniversary, the Presidency of FIATA decided to mark this particular event with the creation of the FIATA Foundation Vocational Training, an institution which aims to assist Associations in less privileged countries to build up and enhance professional skill in the industry.
The Management Committee of the Foundation coordinates the fundraising activities, evaluates the applications for funds and helps the Associations on the implementation of Training projects.
FIATA has created several documents and forms to establish a uniform standard for use by freight forwarders worldwide. The documents are easily distinguishable as each has a distinctive colour and carries the FIATA logo which can be seen at the head of this page.
FIATA documents have an excellent reputation and are recognised as documents of tradition and trust. They have greatly contributed in the past to the facilitation of international exchanges and will continue in the future to be valuable instruments in the service of world trade.