Government formalizes working group to set guidelines for Tecon Santos 10

The federal government formalized the creation of a working group to consolidate the guidelines for the Tecon Santos 10 project, a terminal planned for the Port of Santos. The measure was established by an ordinance of the National Secretariat of Ports, published in the Official Gazette of the Union on the 21st.

The group is expected to prepare a joint technical statement from the National Secretariat of Ports and the Special Secretariat of the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI), linked to the Chief of Staff's Office. The document will support the analysis by the National Waterway Transport Agency (ANTAQ).

The group was formed after ANTAQ sent the government, on the 2nd, an order requesting clearer and aligned guidance from the Ministry of Ports and Airports and the PPI regarding the auction model. The request followed the agency's technical analyses of a request made by the Executive Branch in May to broaden the opening of the competition.

The model originally approved by ANTAQ's board and subsequently validated by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) provides for a two-phase tender. Under this format, operators already active at the Port of Santos could participate only if there were no qualified interested parties in the first stage. The TCU's decision also recommended barring shipping lines from participating.

The guidance later presented by the PPI and forwarded by the Ministry of Ports and Airports to ANTAQ proposes allowing operators already established at the port to compete from the first phase. To do so, they would have to make an irrevocable commitment to sell their current assets if they won the competition.

By establishing the working group, the government intends to consolidate its technical position before forwarding the guidelines to ANTAQ, which is expected to assess the effects of the proposal within its regulatory authority.