The Freight Forwarders Association of Portugal (APAT) is the national association for PT-registered and licensed companies engaged in international freight forwarding activity - understood as the planning and organization of operations for the international transport of goods by all modes of transport (air, road, rail and sea), along with complementary logistics operations and distribution activities.
APAT has around 260 corporate members, known generally as freight forwarders, who offer a wide range of services within the various modes of transport. Some of our members are also involved in providing customs clearance and other cross border controls.
A not-for-profit organization, APAT is funded by subscription and run by its members for members. It operates with a full-time Secretariat which administers and manages the Association’s affairs.
APAT members trade under a nationally accepted set of Standard Trading Conditions that are backed in the insurance sector.
The association provides its members with:
- Legal counselling on issues related to labour law, fiscal law and transport law.
- Privileged access to the General Conditions for Services Provision, approved by Apat and applied by its members under the regulatory act for the forwarding activity as general contract terms.
- Organization support on licensing procedures as well as claims to official entities.
- Permanent information in the form of circulars, informative notes and APAT's magazine.
- A bimonthly magazine with extensive national and international coverage.
- Intervention with the public administration in the best interests of the freight forwarding industry.
- Market research initiatives and gathering of statistical data from this sector.
- Organization and promotion of vocational training courses, inter-company and intra-company, in order to improve the quality of services provided by freight forwarders.
- Organization and promotion of Conferences, Seminars, Congresses and other meetings of scientific and technical nature.
- Industry Representation before all institutions and entities, both national and international.
- Collection of all the information on the activity, nationally and Internationally.
- Support rooms for their companies’ activity.
