On Friday November 19th, the CBFCA issued a notice to their members advising that their Board had voted to reject the 'Single Industry Body' (SIB) proposal described in a prospectus prepared by the CFBCA and AFIF SIB steering Committee.

In consideration of the importance of the SIB issue, the CBFCA Board decided that CBFCA members will vote in a referendum early in 2011, to either ratify or overturn the decision of the CBFCA Board.

In reaching its decision, the CBFCA Board concluded that the philosophical and potential advantages of forming an SIB were far outweighed by the expense of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of CBFCA member funds creating an SIB which, when formed, would have a Constitution and operations which would only differ in minor aspects from the existing CBFCA Constitution and operations.

The AFIF Board is disappointed with the CBFCA Board decision not to support the formation of a unified single industry body. We believe that bringing together the strengths of both associations to form a powerful SIB is in the best interests of ALL stakeholders in our industry.

Both organisations have already spent a great deal of money using professional mediators to arrive at the prospectus that was rejected by the CBFCA Board.

Whilst there is a cost involved in bringing an SIB to fruition, the AFIF Board's position is that the cost is not prohibitive and is affordable by the respective associations. The cost is far outweighed by the long lasting benefits of a combined representative body for the industry.

AFIF will continue its efforts to encourage the CBFCA Board and its members to pursue the SIB future vision.

AFIF urges its members to attend the AGM on Thursday 25 November to have your say on the SIB and the future direction of our industry, including a BAFA 2011 conference.

Regards,