Nordic Collaboration Creates a Strong Identity

In one field the harmonisation efforts carried out in the European Union have been somewhat slow: the role and the identity of the freight forwarder still vary from country to country. Not so in the Nordic countries, where for a long time we have had a strong common view on the services and the liability of the freight forwarder.

This is to a great extent explained by the fact that the Nordic countries make up an economically advanced and relatively homogeneous region in Europe, with cultural, linguistic, religious and political similarities. The total number of inhabitants is approximately 23 million.

Industrialisation came late to this part of Europe but the pace of development has been fast, especially after World War II. Today, 85 per cent of the inhabitants of the Nordic countries live in towns, while less than five per cent are farmers.

Major traditional industries are linked to local raw materials. In the fertile agricultural country of Denmark the food industry is important. In Finland and Sweden forestry plays a large role, and in Norway fishing and, more recently, oil from the North Sea, form a large part of industrial activity.

Sophisticated products
These countries have in common the fact that, in addition to their primary industries, they have large, specialised engineering industries, which import a lot of components and successfully export their products. Danish measuring instruments, Finnish and Swedish mobile phones and Norwegian navigational electronics are known all over the world.

The environment and nature conservation are issues which preoccupy to a considerable degree the outdoor-loving inhabitants of the Nordic countries. Public opinion demands fresh air, clean water and unspoilt countryside in which to roam.

It was a natural step, therefore, for Sweden to host the first UN conference on the human environment in 1972, and as early as 1974 a Nordic environmental convention was drawn up. In the course of time Nordic environmental regulations have come to resemble one another more and more closely.

The official Nordic environmental label, the “Nordic Swan”, sets very high standards, which are at present met by over 500 products from Finland, Norway and Sweden.

An excellent example
Although Nordic collaboration developed rapidly in the postwar years, it actually began at the end of the last century in the area of the law, with the coordination of legislation and regulations, particularly where transportation and commerce were concerned.

In the field of transportation, the General Conditions of the Nordic Association of Freight Forwarders, introduced in 1919, are an excellent example of such collaboration, in this case on private initiative, as the Nordic countries lacked, and lack, legislation governing freight-forwarding agreements.

Today, legislation in most areas has been harmonised and a number of cooperation agreements and conventions are in force between the countries. Cultural and educational cooperation is well developed.

Collaboration thrives
Nordic collaboration is thriving more than ever, at political and official levels as well as among the public at large.

What is interesting and unique is that the idea of Nordic collaboration attracts lively interest on the part of the general public. Every self-respecting town has a Nordic (and now also a Baltic) twin with which it maintains contacts, and every organisation of any importance collaborates with its opposite numbers in the rest of the Nordic countries.

In this respect the Nordic freight forwarders and the Nordic Association of Freight Forwarders are but one example out of hundreds.

Sven Buhrkall
President
The Nordic Association of Freight Forwarders