Operation Tortoise: Vehicles Stranded at Brazilian Ports

Ecoporto Santos highlighted significant impacts on daily operations, including excessive yard occupancy and reduced terminal productivity (Ecoporto/Divulgation)

Operation Tortoise or Standard by Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) servers, carried out since January, is impacting the import and export of combustion and hybrid vehicles, leaving cars stranded in the yards of Brazilian ports, such as Santos.

Ibama relies on the action of its inspectors at ports to issue import licenses for light and heavy vehicles, essential documents for allowing entry into the country. These are certificates that prove compliance with the Vehicle Emissions Control Program (Proconve).

The slowdown in workflow also affected auditors from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa), responsible for inspecting containers with parts and vehicles in general, what also affected the arrival of parts.

Although the situation has improved from 47,000 stranded cars in March to 17,300 in May, the National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea) remains concerned.

"There are 206 containers awaiting clearance, and this greatly affects our production, already reflecting in our exports as well. If we consider vehicles and machinery, we have 1,152 containers. We are working to contribute as much as possible, but also asking for these clearances to occur as quickly as possible because this has created difficulty for our industry's production", details the association's president, Márcio de Lima Leite.

In a statement, Ecoporto Santos highlighted significant impacts on operations, including excessive yard occupancy and reduced terminal productivity, which moved 2,517 import units, accounting for 68% of first-quarter movement. "This situation requires immediate attention to minimize the disruptions faced by automakers and the port sector", the statement concludes.

Santos Brasil reports that in the first quarter of this year, the import movement at its Vehicle Terminal (TEV) was 3,836 units. "Of this total, only 48% were cleared by the end of the quarter. Today, terminal occupancy is within the average regarding imported vehicles", it explains. According to the company, most of the TEV's movement, about 90%, is related to vehicle exports.

Miguel Malaguerra, executive director of Grimaldi Lines, headquartered in Italy, one of the world's largest oceanic vehicle carriers and heavy equipment, also feels the effects. "We feel it more in Mercosur import flow. If we compare the second half of January to mid-March against the second half of March to mid-May, we see a 40% drop in vehicle imports. It also became apparent that the yard congestion at the ports of Rio de Janeiro and Santos also impacted exports since imported vehicles clogged the yard. In the same period, we saw exports fall by 8%", he explains.

Within the deadline

Ibama stated in a note that analyses have been conducted within ten business days, a timeframe shorter than the legal 60 days, according to Portaria Secex (Foreign Trade Secretariat) No. 249, from last year.

The agency also ensured active participation in negotiations with other federal government instances regarding the demands of institute servers. It also stated that it is working towards a positive outcome and ensuring the continuity of its activities.

"The autarchy's presidency has as one of its main priorities the valorization and restructuring of institute careers and has been working towards this since the beginning of the current administration", it concludes.

A Tribuna spoke with representatives of entities linked to servers, who explained that they continue to fight for the restructuring of the environmental specialist career, foreseeing, for example, a reduction in the wage gap between technicians and analysts.

The proposal presented by the Government, they said, foresees zero adjustment for this year and does not meet the demands raised by the category.