Sobre a ABTP

The Brazilian Association of Port Terminals (ABTP) is a non profit civil corporation, with main offices in Rio de Janeiro, organized in 1989 to bring together companies holders or managers of port terminals, of exclusive, mixed or public use.

It deals with issues related to port activities, specially the matters involving rights and obligations of port terminals and its members. It promotes an associative and participative work defending the interests of owners of port facilities.

It also deals with technological development of loading and unloading operations, striving at all times for efficiency, quality and cost saving achievements for the port services. The final beneficiary of the services is the port client – the reason why there are ports and terminals.

Origin

As of the seventies, the companies that owned port terminals for private use started to get together seeking a joint defense of their segment and to fight four big problems hindering their activities:

centralization and immobility of the port sector, dictated by the management model then in force;
poor and biased authorizations to install and to operate terminals;
charge of tariffs by the port management notwithstanding no services being provided, and
growing monopoly pressure by independent workers unions against the private port facilities.

As a result of these meetings, on April 5, 1989, the Brazilian Association of Private Port Terminals - ABTP was created, initially comprising 38 companies, with the first task being to fight for a new and modern law to rule Brazilian ports. After nearly four years of struggling in the National Congress, Law No. 8630 was sanctioned on February 25, 1993 – also known as Port Modernization Law - resulting from a broad social agreement between representatives of the economic categories involved and every political and party trends in the National Congress. Then a new legal format was inaugurated for the activity, leading to the privatization of port services. As of then ABTP expanded its initial scope and in 1997 started to represent also public terminals run by private enterprises.

Purpose

Defend the interest of the members at all levels of government and coordinate, in national terms, corporate actions aiming at advancing the ports modernization process;
Defend a better economic performance for port activities and its development in regional, national and continental level (under Mercosul, ABTP is affiliated to Mercoport – Mercosul Private Ports and Terminals Association and under the Americas, to American Association of Port Authorities);
Perform the full implementation of Law 8.630/93, specially regarding the effective enforcement of the port authority by the CAPs, centralizing manpower management in the OGMOs and cutting port activities red tape;
Promote technological upgrading of processes and equipment in loading and unloading operations;
Fight for a National Ports Policy, to include new models of management of ports and dredging operations, as well as guidelines to modernize capital x work relations;
Endeavor to have the Water Transportation National Agency (ANTAq) properly fulfilling its regulatory role acting as promoter of ports and terminals development;
Fight in behalf of the reduction of red tape in port activities.

Mission, Vision and Values

ABTP performance is guided by following values: Ethics, Innovation, Commitment, Integration, Juridicity, Legality and Transparence. This is the basis on which the entity intends to fulfill its Mission defined as follows:

“Move members into contributing to the modernization and
competitiveness of the national port sector”

...and to reinforce its Vision:

“To be acknowledged as the leader of the thought and the actions
of the port business sector”.

Major achievements

Support and participation in the development of the project that resulted in the Law on Ports (No.
8630/1993);
Securing of legal safety for port terminals through lease agreements and membership agreements.
Freedom to hire workers for the cargo handling;
Payment of rates subject only to the provision of services by port authorities;
Customs of the port facilities, after long and hard work at the Internal Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance;
Participation of terminals in the Port Authority Councils (CAPs) and Supervision Boards of the Manpower Management Bodies (OGMOs);
Agreement reached in the Senate at the time of voting the Law that created the ANTAq, requiring the Agency to comply with the provisions of Act No. 8.630 governing leases and membership agreements as well as the functioning of the CAPs;
Wins over repeated attempts of legislators to amend Law No.8.630 suppressing achievements, as it happened to Bill No. 7.152 of 2002, intended to increase the organized port area to include the private terminals as well as other normative acts and managing by state bodies in order to weaken the position of the terminals;
Active participation in the implementation of the ISPS Code, coordinating corporate activities,
negotiating and establishing a friendly, understanding and cooperative environment with Conportos and other Brazilian authorities involved;
Creation of Ports and Logistics Sub-Committee by the Committee of Economic Development, Industry and Trading of the House of Representatives, in response to the request made by ABTP and by Ports Committee to suspend Resolution No. 55 by ANTAq;
Support to the creation and extension of the Reporto (Tax System for the Incentive to the Modernization and Expansion of the Port Structure), an important mechanism to promote the boosting and technological upgrading of port terminals.

Challenges and threats to the implementation of Port Reform

Constant attempts to change, with setbacks, Law No. 8630 in the legal and regulatory framework;
Attempts to weaken the CAPs and OGMOs;
Frequent OGMOs assessments by Ministry of Labor, according to subjective interpretations of Law No. 8.630 and motivated by violations of procedures not under its control;
Permanent pressure of workers unions, supported by Labor Ministry and Labor Prosecutor, in order to force port terminals to hire and require independent workers retained by OGMOs;
Strikes by public bodies in the ports.