Corte de Contas says that the regulatory agency needs to improve mechanisms to avoid “abusive charges” from port terminals
The (Federal Audit Court) identified signs of charges abusive of ports and terminals regarding container demurrage – additional charge made for the period in which the container exceeds the time limit at the port.
The Court of Auditors ruling determined that the (National Waterway Transport Agency) draw up an action plan to make the charging methodology transparent by the beginning of January. Here is the ruling (PDF – 103 kB).
According to the TCU, there is a lack of a database on container demurrage events, including those charged by intermediary agents. The Court also understood that there is no identification, based on evidence, of the causes that give rise to charges for container demurrage.
What happens is that if a container stays longer than allowed in the port area, the terminals charge for the space occupied beyond the agreed time. It turns out that there is no limit for this pricing, which can lead to abusive charges.
There is also a double penalty for the owner of the cargo and removes the responsibility of shipowners – companies that commercially operate ships in ports – to guarantee the shipment of goods. A container that does not ship already constitutes a loss, which is increased by charging demurrage.
The complaint was made by . According to the association’s lawyer, Osvaldo Agripino de Castro Junior, the TCU ruling is a “ear tugging” and Antaq. “The TCU is not satisfied with Antaq’s regulatory model. The decisions we have resorted to are not sufficient to bring adequate service”said Agrippino.
