Bill in Brasília could grant more autonomy to port authorities

During a meeting at the headquarters of the Santos Port Authority, federal deputies attended a presentation by President Anderson Pomini (Alexsander Ferraz/AT)

The special committee of the Chamber of Deputies reviewing Bill (PL) 733/2025, which updates port legislation in Brazil, is expected to introduce a proposal into the text that would grant greater autonomy to port authorities in order to unlock investments — addressing a common issue among public ports: low budget execution. The matter was discussed on Wednesday (1st), during the second and final day of technical visits by committee members to the Port of Santos.

Rapporteur of the bill, Federal Deputy Arthur Maia (União-BA), stated that one of the goals of the committee is to draft new legislation that reduces bureaucracy in the port sector. “Bureaucracy is a serious obstacle to investment in ports.”

Maia advocates for increased autonomy for port authorities. “I believe that reducing bureaucracy largely involves strengthening the port authority. The Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) provides guidance at the level of national policy, but the ones who truly know the ports are the respective port authorities. As we strengthen them, investments will flow much more easily.”

The rapporteur promised to formalize this demand and draft a concise bill “so that bureaucracy will no longer persist.”

Alignment The deputy’s proposal aligns with the view of the President of the Santos Port Authority (APS), Anderson Pomini. In a meeting with the delegation held at the administrative headquarters of the Port of Santos early yesterday morning, Pomini stated that the Ports Law needs to be reformed to unlock investments, as “ports generally show low budget execution.”

According to Pomini, the Federal Government itself contributes to this disincentive. “The Secretariat for Coordination and Governance of State-Owned Enterprises (Sest), part of the Federal Government, evaluates ports based on their budget execution capacity, which is a mistake. Some state-owned companies operate with the handbrake on just to present, at the end of the year, a higher execution rate than originally proposed. This creates a disincentive for those working within the system. It should be the opposite. You should be encouraged to present an ambitious execution plan. These are some of the factors that cause inefficiency”, he said.

The manager of the Port of Santos mentioned that although APS projected a budget of R\$ 260 million for this year, the plan is to execute only 36.9% of it — which would already be a record. He explained the reason for the low execution. “The tunnel, for example, already had funds allocated for this year, but due to political arrangements and the involvement of the State Government, we won’t execute what was planned for the tunnel this year. There are also other works that were subject to legal challenges and objections.”

For 2026, according to Pomini, the budget forecast is R\$ 759 million. “Of that amount, R\$ 246 million will be allocated to the tunnel — the contribution provides security for the private sector. Another R\$ 360 million will be invested in internal projects — construction, quay renovations, and the perimeter road — and R\$ 154 million is earmarked for the Port of Itajaí (SC), as part of an investment plan exceeding R\$ 850 million.”

According to him, the state-owned company has cash on hand, but due to the fragmentation of decision-making across many entities, things end up being delayed or not happening at all. “It’s important to find a modern framework in this legislation so that Brazil’s productive, logistics, and port sectors can operate more efficiently. We need to find a structure that gives us greater agility”, said Pomini.

The goal, he says, is to distribute responsibilities with proper governance and legal certainty. “This is the equation we need to solve.”

Technical visits The special committee of federal deputies reviewing Bill (PL) 733/2025, which updates the Ports Law (12.815/2013), has been holding meetings, public hearings, and technical visits to gather input to improve the final version of the bill, which is expected to be approved next year. At the Port of Santos, the committee conducted technical visits and meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The agenda included terminal visits, the Valongo Park, a boat tour, and meetings at the Santos City Hall and the Santos Port Authority (APS). Throughout the schedule, the deputies were accompanied by local authorities, business leaders, and port-related entities. Participating in the visits were the rapporteur of the bill, Federal Deputy Arthur Maia (União-BA); the committee’s president, Deputy Murilo Galdino (Republicanos-PB); the 2nd vice president, Paulo Alexandre Barbosa (PSDB); as well as Rosana Valle (PL, full member) and Carlos Alberto da Cunha, known as Delegado Da Cunha (PP).