Antaq tightens oversight of Amazon low water surcharge

Brazil’s waterway regulator Antaq will strengthen supervision of the Amazon low water surcharge, known in the industry as the Low Water Surcharge, or LWS, applied by shipping companies during periods of hydrological restrictions in the Amazon region.

Under the new procedure, the surcharge will be subject to regulatory approval by Antaq, with each company’s supporting information reviewed individually. The measure was published in Brazil’s Federal Official Gazette on Tuesday, September 15.

In practice, simply notifying users of an intention to charge the surcharge will no longer be enough for it to be applied. Shipping companies must inform Antaq at least 30 days in advance and submit the technical, operational and economic elements supporting the measure.

They will also need to demonstrate the link between river conditions, the impact on operations, any reduction in capacity or additional costs, and the proposed surcharge amount.

Antaq’s review may result in approval, approval with conditions or rejection. The agency will then monitor the application of the surcharge and may revisit its decision if new information emerges or hydrological conditions change. It may also later assess whether the impacts and costs projected by shipping companies were actually confirmed.

Tacit approval and transition rules

The new framework also allows for tacit approval in certain cases. This may occur after the 30-day decision period, counted from the submission of a sufficiently documented notice and excluding any suspensions for additional information requests, or before that deadline when a hydrological level or operational situation recognized by Antaq is reached.

For 2026, the reference will be the official level of the Rio Negro at the Port of Manaus, equal to or below 17.7 meters.

As a transition rule, communications and information requests already carried out will be used without restarting the deadline count. Companies will have five days to submit any additional information.

Charges already introduced and linked to the Rio Negro reaching the 17.7-meter level may receive preliminary temporary approval, subject to review at any time by Antaq’s regulation department.

The measure does not ban the low water surcharge, nor does it create price controls. Waterborne transport operates under a system of free pricing for rates and freight. That freedom, however, does not remove Antaq’s authority to prevent abusive practices and verify whether extraordinary charges have a technical and economic basis compatible with the impacts actually caused by the drought.

More than a year of monitoring

The decision follows a monitoring process that Antaq has been intensifying for more than a year. During that period, the agency has requested information from shipping companies to support the basis and amounts of the surcharges.

So far, however, the information submitted has generally not been enough to prove, with the required level of detail, the extraordinary costs claimed by the companies or their connection to the amounts charged.

For the 2026 cycle, Antaq reinforced its oversight and reiterated to companies the need for prior notification and the submission of the technical information required for analysis. The agency also made clear that simply receiving those notices does not mean automatic recognition that the charge is regular.

The action also comes amid complaints and statements from commercial and industrial entities in the Amazon region over possible abusive pricing. The concern is that extraordinary charges without proper justification could increase logistics costs and affect economic activity, supply chains, and prices for food and other essential goods in a region heavily dependent on waterborne transport.

With the new framework, Antaq aims to reduce information asymmetry between companies and users and make supervision more timely and effective.

Drought conditions alone will not be enough to justify an extraordinary charge. Each company will be responsible for technically demonstrating the impact on its operations and the additional costs involved, allowing Antaq to assess the reasonableness of the surcharge before it is applied and monitor its effects during the dry season.

The tighter control over the Amazon low water surcharge adds a new regulatory layer to shipping operations in one of Brazil’s most waterway-dependent regions, where river levels can directly affect freight costs, service reliability and cargo flows.

Source: Antaq

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