Legislative changes may be needed to the benefit of the port sector, says director of ANTAQ

In a presentation last Tuesday (21), Eduardo Nery, the general director of ANTAQ (National Waterborne Transport Agency), highlighted the potential need for legislative changes to streamline processes and enhance the efficiency of the port sector. Nery’s remarks came during a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies, organized by the CVT (Travel and Transport Commission), focusing on “Bureaucratic Obstacles in the Port Sector.”

Nery emphasized that efforts to reduce the gap between private and public terminals are already in progress as part of the Ministry of Ports and Airports’ Navegue Simples [Simple Navigation] program.

“The challenge revolves around transporting the flexibility of private terminals, which is what grants them the agility to make investments, to public terminals”, said Nery, arguing that this is the result of “lethargy ” from the port authorities.

Despite having substantial financial resources in recent years, public port authorities have struggled to make necessary investments, according to Nery. He advocated for authorities to adopt a management approach similar to that of private terminals, which are considered global benchmarks for the landlord port model.

The chief auditor of the Ports and Railways Audit of the Federal Audit Court, Bruno Martinello, highlighted, during the meeting, that the governmental agency conducted an audit on the topic of asymmetry between public and private terminals, noting the need for improvement in regulation of public terminals, which had a much lower performance in terms of investment than private terminals over the years.

Bruno Neri da Silva, director of the Department of New Concessions and Port Regulatory Policies at the Ports Secretariat of the Ministry of Ports and Airports, provided insights into the progress of the Navegue Simples program, whose first phase entails the simplification of investment rules for private terminals. He also mentioned that the calamity situation in Rio Grande do Sul had impacted the program’s timeline for simplifying investment rules for private terminals.

The ministry is collaborating with ANTAQ to expedite investments in the port sector by reviewing infra-legal regulations. Silva mentioned that adjustments to agency regulations would be promptly produced from ministry acts, including changes to an ordinance regulating investments in public terminals.

Channel Concession

Additionally, representatives from various associations raised concerns about obstacles in the sector, particularly insufficient investment in land and waterway access.

Neri, representing the Ports Secretariat, recalled that the ministry is working on granting waterway access channels, which is the case for the Port of Santos.

Deputy Gilberto Abramo, the president of the commission, expressed the commission’s intent to share the hearing’s insights with the Commission of Jurists for the Legal Review of the Exploration of Ports and Port Facilities of the Chamber, which is currently ongoing.

This week, Minister Douglas Alencar Rodrigues appointed five new members to the collegiate: Osvaldo Agripino de Castro Junior, Mário Teixeira, Ronaldo Curado Fleury, Bruno Dal’orto Marques, and Manoel Caetano Ferreira Filho.

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