The National Agency for Waterway Transportation (ANTAQ) established regulatory conditions for specific contractual procedures in the port sector, such as the transfer of corporate control related to ports and leasing contracts related to port facilities. They are designed to improve legal security and predictability.
Resolution n.º 57/2021 from the National Agency for Waterway Transportation (ANTAQ) established regulatory conditions (analysis and authorization requirements) for contractual procedures related to ports and port facilities, more specifically, concerning the transfer of corporate control and ownership of concession contracts, related to ports, and the transfer of leasing contracts and exploration contracts related to port facilities. The establishment of the conditions aims at improving the legal security and predictability of port operations.
Such regulatory conditions concern the required authorizations from ANTAQ or the granting authority before each contractual procedure is carried out. The resolution’s third article established that transfers of corporate control require an ANTAQ authorization, while its fourth article provided that transfers of ownership of port concession contracts, port facility leasing contracts, and port facility exploration contracts require previous ANTAQ analysis and authorization by the granting authority.
Furthermore, article 5 listed six contractual procedures that do not require previous authorization by ANTAQ. Articles 6 to 8 provided further clarification, including which contractual transfers are prohibited (article 7). Chapter “IV” of the resolution described the process for carrying out the contractual procedures, while chapter “V” provided the deadlines for the conclusion of specific steps from the procedures (e.g., article 27 determined that the transfer of corporate control must be concluded in 180 days after the ANTAQ authorization is published in the Federal Official Gazette, and may be postponed by an equal period under specific conditions).
According to ANTAQ, the improvement of clarity in the procedures, and its simplification, will facilitate operations within the port sector.
