Private sector opposes creation of new revenue stream for cities

Project establishes the transfer to port municipalities of 1% of the Port Authority's annual gross revenue from port fees (Alexsander Ferraz/ AT)

The proposal to create a new source of revenue for port municipalities, based on port income, was discussed during a public hearing held by the special committee of the Chamber of Deputies that is reviewing Bill (PL) 733/2025, which aims to revise the legal framework for ports. The hearing took place this Wednesday (24), in Brasília. The measure, however, faces opposition from representative entities of port terminals and the Santos Port Authority (APS), which have expressed their disapproval of the initiative.

The discussion focused on Articles 92 to 97, which establish guidelines for the Port-City relationship. Article 97 stipulates the transfer to port municipalities of 1% of the Port Authority's annual gross revenue from port fees, as well as 5% of the concession fee offered in auction bids for concessions or leases. If the terminal or port spans more than one municipality, the distribution will be proportional to the volume of cargo handled in each location over the past 12 months. Transfers will be made directly by the Port Authority to the beneficiary municipalities.

Present at the public session, APS president Anderson Pomini stated that the Port of Santos is connected to five cities. "If we assign a percentage of revenue to the municipalities — in the case of Santos, I’ll have five mayors lobbying for companies of their interest to occupy those spaces, in order to receive these legitimate transfers, should we approve this rule."

Pomini also argued that if the rule is approved, the final decision on the revenue percentage should be "made by the CAP (Port Authority Council) and by the Port itself."

“The Port is not an instrument for municipal revenue collection or tax generation”, Pomini added, also citing Complementary Law 793/2013, from the Municipality of Santos, which regulates the requirement for a Prior Neighborhood Impact Study (EIV) for port companies. “Through this law alone, the Municipality of Santos has collected over R\$ 500 million from terminals on the Right Bank.”

Operators Participating via videoconference, the president of the Associação Brasileira dos Terminais Portuários (ABTP), Jesualdo Silva, rejected Article 97 of PL 733/2025. “There are already several legal instruments in place to balance urban development and port activity. The City Statute itself establishes compensatory measures for each project to be developed within the Port.”

The president of the Associação de Terminais Portuários Privados (ATP), Murillo Barbosa, commented that public ports and private terminals are very different. “So, creating a public policy that applies to all port facilities in Brazil may be complicated. ATP’s position is that Articles 92 through 97, which establish revenue collection guidelines for municipalities, should be reanalyzed.”

Caio Morel, executive director of the Associação Brasileira de Terminais de Contêineres (Abratec), stated that the port sector already contributes via the ISS tax. Therefore, transferring Port Authority resources to the municipality would not be feasible. “It’s worth noting that Port Authorities already have programs for resource transfers to municipalities. This issue should not be addressed in PL 733. There is already a high level of cooperation between terminals and Port Authorities.”

Sérgio Aquino, president of the Federação Nacional das Operações Portuárias (Fenop), believes Article 97 needs to be reviewed. “Companies already pay taxes on fees. Regarding the 5% of the concession fee, it makes no sense to pay that and also the Neighborhood Impact Fee (EIV), as this would reduce investment in the Port.”

Aquino also suggested that the proposed additional transfers be reassessed by the bill’s rapporteur. “There should be criteria ensuring that the funds are applied to their intended purpose.”

In favor On the other hand, the rapporteur of PL 733/2025 in the special committee, Federal Deputy Arthur Oliveira Maia (União-BA), expressed support for Articles 92 through 97. “These are programmatic rules, but ports bring major problems to people's lives. We must ensure that port revenue contributes to the city, similar to how royalties work. Personally, I support the article that mandates payment of 1% of the Port Authority’s fee revenue and 5% of concession fees to the cities,” said the congressman.

Next week, members of the committee will conduct technical visits to the Port of Santos. On Tuesday, the visit is scheduled for 3:00 PM; on Wednesday, at 10:00 AM.