Committee discussing revision of the Ports Law approves 11 public hearings

If approved and sanctioned by the President of the Republic, the bill will replace the current Ports Law of 2013 (Alexsander Ferraz/AT)

The special committee of federal deputies discussing Bill (PL) 733/2025 — the new proposed Ports Law — presented its work plan this Wednesday (6) at the Chamber of Deputies in Brasília and approved the submitted motions in a block vote. A total of 11 public hearings and technical visits to the ports of Santos, Paranaguá (Paraná), Itajaí (Santa Catarina), Aratu (Bahia), Suape (Pernambuco), Cabedelo (Paraíba), Pecém and Mucuripe (Ceará), Itaqui (Maranhão), and Manaus (Amazonas) will be conducted.

The committee's chair, Deputy Murilo Galdino (Republicanos-PB), explained that sessions will be held on Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m. Each meeting will be divided between a public hearing and the deliberation of motions. In total, 40 sessions will take place. Deputies, whether committee members or not, will have five sessions to submit amendments to the bill.

Galdino emphasized that the 491 amendments already submitted to the Federal Legislature’s Labor Committee “remain valid and will be reviewed by the committee.”

The bill is subject to conclusive deliberation by the committee and, if approved, may proceed directly to the Senate without a plenary vote. If approved and sanctioned by the President, the bill will replace the current Ports Law (Law No. 12,815/2013).

Meetings Federal Deputy Arthur Maia (União-BA), the bill’s rapporteur within the committee, presented the work plan for public hearings, which will be held weekly starting next Wednesday.

“The first two hearings will address the general aspects of the bill, so I suggest inviting the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho; the Director-General of the National Agency for Waterway Transportation (Antaq), Caio Farias; the President of the commission of legal experts who drafted the preliminary bill, Minister of the Superior Labor Court (TST), Douglas Alencar; and São Paulo’s Regional Labor Court (TRT) Judge Celso Peel, who served as the rapporteur for the preliminary draft”, he stated.

Maia also mentioned that technical visits with seminars will be held at the ports of Santos, Paranaguá (PR), Itajaí (SC), Aratu (BA), Suape (PE), Cabedelo (PB), Pecém (CE), Mucuripe (CE), Itaqui (MA), and Manaus (AM). “It will be up to the committee chair to schedule these visits.”

Deputies from the Baixada Santista Federal Deputy Paulo Alexandre Barbosa (PSDB), representative of the Baixada Santista region and president of the Mixed Parliamentary Front for Ports and Airports (FPPA), is one of the three elected vice-chairs of the committee, alongside Deputies Daniela Reinehr (PL-SC) and Julio Lopes (PT-RJ), who are also FPPA members.

Barbosa requested the inclusion of the Federal Revenue Service, the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), and the Port Authority of Santos (APS) in discussions on topics such as debureaucratization, the environment, and port policies, respectively. “And also the Governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos), who could contribute as a port sector expert, and Dr. Eraldo Franzese, a lawyer specializing in Port Labor Law”, the deputy added.

As a full member of the special committee, Federal Deputy Rosana Valle (PL) stated she would advocate for worker protections.

“I was approached by sectors linked to casual port workers at the Port of Santos and will submit a petition to the committee. They are concerned about the changes that could harm port labor, such as the end of exclusivity and of Ogmo (Labor Management Body) with the creation of the Port Labor Service Provider Company (EPTP).”

Regional parliamentarians: “I was approached by sectors linked to casual port workers at the Port of Santos and will submit a petition to the committee. They are concerned about the proposed changes,” said Rosana Valle (PL), Federal Deputy. “Since some panels are quite extensive, to maintain effectiveness, I propose that the rapporteur consider increasing the number of meetings,” said Paulo Alexandre Barbosa (PSDB), Federal Deputy (Reproduction)

Next stage 11 Thematic Public Hearings (One per week starting next Wednesday):

1st & 2nd: General aspects of Bill 733/2025 3rd: Labor from the workers' perspective 4th: Labor from the employers' perspective 5th: Port operations and services 6th: Debureaucratization 7th: Conflict resolution and the creation of the Self-Regulation and Conflict Resolution Chamber for the Port and Waterway Sector 8th: Environmental aspects of the port system 9th: Port-City relations 10th: Port security 11th: Impacts of the bill on Brazilian agricultural and livestock exports Technical Visits: Ports of Santos, Paranaguá (PR), Itajaí (SC), Aratu (BA), Suape (PE), Cabedelo (PB), Pecém (CE), Mucuripe (CE), Itaqui (MA), and Manaus (AM). The schedule will be defined by the chair of the special committee.