Congress to combine ‘BR do Mar’ project with cabotage bill in Senate

On Monday, June 29, the Infrastructure Minister, Tarcísio de Freitas, confirmed it was likely that National Congress would combine the federal government’s BR do Mar project with Senator Kátia Abreu’s Bill of Law (PL 3129/2020), both related to cabotage. Although there are some differences, the minister believes that, based on the two projects, cabotage will be more open to develop at a lower cost. Earlier this month, Senator Abreu presented the new law, citing that she was “tired of waiting” for the government’s BR do Mar project to come through.

One of BR do Mar’s proposals concerns the reduction of the ICMS (a tax on sales and services applied to the movement of goods and transportation amongst other services) on bunker fuel. In this regard, Freitas said that the feedback with the governors has been positive and that the state of Espírito Santo should be the first to adhere to the government’s proposal.

The Br do Mar project is the Cabotage Incentive Policy, established in August 2019.  It aims to promote an increase in cabotage shipping in the Brazilian logistics matrix, in addition to providing regulatory security for private investors so that they can invest in this segment in such a way as to provide a regular, stable, and reliable service. It also aims to offer greater access to funds already set up for the development of the shipbuilding industry, reduce operating costs through cheaper fuel used in cabotage, and allow greater access to organized ports, amongst other benefits.

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