Keywords: Ordinance, SEP, ANTAQ

On 5 August, 2013, the Special Secretariat for Ports of the Office of the President of the Republic ("SEP") published Ordinance no. 110 ("Ordinance") specifying the procedures for (i) changes in the type of handled cargo and (ii) expansion of port facilities located outside an organized port1 not exceeding twenty five percent of the original area, provided that this is feasible in the relevant location. Both cases relate to Private Use Terminals ("TUP") located outside the area of an organized port.

The Ordinance regulated the application of the sole paragraph of Section 35 of Decree no. 8033/2013 ("Decree") which waived new authorizations for the two cases indicated above.

The Ordinance lists all documents required to support an application for change in the type of handled cargo or expansion of authorized area. Applications should be submitted to the Brazilian Agency for Waterway Transportation ("ANTAQ"). ANTAQ will issue the appropriate technical and legal opinions and a resolution of its Board of Officers and upon confirmation that everything is in order and the requirements have been satisfied, ANTAQ will refer the case to the SEP. If the SEP understands that the application fulfills the requirements, it will execute an Amendment to the Adhesion Contract that originally documented the authorization.

It is important to bear in mind that according to the Ordinance it is not possible to expand a TUP located within an organized port and in case the intended expansion exceeds twenty five percent of the original area, a new application procedure for a new authorization has to be commenced, including publication of a public announcement and, where applicable, submission to a selection process.

Footnotes

1. Similar to the internationally known "landlord port".

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