New Resolution Regulates the Operation of Areas and Facilities of Organized Ports

National Waterway Transport Agency (ANTAQ) published on April 9, 2025, the Resolution No. 127/2025 (“Resolution 127”), regulating the operation of port areas and facilities located within the boundaries of organized ports. The Resolution 127 entered force on May 1, 2025, and revokes ANTAQ Normative Resolution No. 7/2016 and ANTAQ Resolution No. 7.823/2020.

The new regulation provides for: general principles, contracts and regimes related to the operation of operational port areas and facilities; special and emergency authorizations; atypical situations and anchored vessels; and other related provisions.

Resolution 127 provides for the following types of contracts: lease agreements, temporary use agreements, water-surface use agreements (which deal with the occupation of wet areas within the port polygon, generally used by stationary vessels), and transitional agreements (now limited to a maximum term of one year). In addition to contracts, as an innovation compared to the previous resolution, Resolution 127 now provides for occasional and continuous public use arrangements.

In particular, the main contractual instrument that deals with the terms and conditions for the operation of operational areas and facilities — the lease agreement — shall be preceded by bidding process and Technical and Environmental Feasibility Studies (EVTEA), in accordance with Resolution 127.

As for the other contracts and regimes, Resolution 127 establishes a simplified selection process for choosing the proposal that best meets the interest of the organized port, prepared and conducted by the port administration, ensuring the principles that guide the actions of the public administration. This process applies to the execution of all other contracts — excluding the lease agreement — to avoid idleness in areas when it is not physically or technically feasible to accommodate all interested parties in the same area simultaneously.

The operation of areas unrelated to port operations in organized ports must comply with the regulatory provisions of the granting authority.

Regarding infractions and penalties, users of the organized port entitled to operate the public port areas and facilities must comply with ANTAQ’s legal and regulatory provisions, especially those relating to: (i) the execution of port operations, the fairness and publication of the tariffs and prices charged, the provision of adequate service, and the effectiveness of users’ rights; and (ii) the terms and conditions expressed or implied in the respective contracts, under penalty of their breach resulting in the imposition of administrative sanctions, pursuant to the regulation governing ANTAQ’s administrative sanctioning process.

Under Resolution 127, the port administration must ensure transparency and the public disclosure of public port areas and facilities of the organized port that are subject to operation based on the types of instruments regulated by the norm, maintaining on its website an updated list of available and occupied public port areas and facilities, indicating the respective contractual terms. This disclosure must take place within 12 months of publication.