Bolsonaro sanctions text of BR do Mar

President Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned the bill establishing the Cabotage Transport Stimulus Program (BR do Mar), the General Secretariat of the Presidency said on Monday (10), a measure heavily criticized by truck drivers who fear losing freight. for the shipping sector.

Cabotage navigation is characterized by transport between ports of a country. Until the sanction of the project, only Brazilian companies with their own ships could operate in the sector, reducing the competitiveness of the modal compared to the road.

Despite this, the secretariat stated in a press release that the BR do Mar law will not result in losses for truck drivers, “whose services will continue to be necessary to transport goods destined for or coming from the ports”. According to the secretariat, this transport would be carried out in “smaller and more profitable sections” for truck drivers.

“The project aims to promote the entry of new cargo transport companies in the connection between ports”, stated the secretary. “The initiative aims to increase the supply and quality of cabotage transport, stimulate competition, encourage competitiveness, increase fleet availability in the national territory,” he added.

According to the secretariat, the measure allows companies to operate without having their own fleet of vessels by chartering EBN-i (Brazilian Company for Investment in Navigation) vessels.

The secretariat stated that Bolsonaro vetoed a provision that determined the obligation of cabotage companies to have a crew composed of at least two thirds of Brazilians “at each technical level of the officership, including graduates or subalterns, and in each branch of activity, including the deck and machines, of a continuous character”.