ANTAQ opens evidence-gathering on container demurrage rules, putting Brazil’s allocation of delay risk back under review

**Verified development.** Brazil’s National Waterway Transportation Agency (ANTAQ) opened Public Call for Contributions SRG No. 03/2026 on 23 September to collect evidence and proposals for a preliminary Regulatory Impact Analysis (AIR) concerning container demurrage under ANTAQ Resolution No. 62/2021. The consultation is part of the agency’s 2025–2028 Regulatory Agenda. Contributions must be filed through ANTAQ’s electronic form by 23:59 Brasília time on 20 October 2026; the agency has also scheduled a public webinar for 29 September, from 10:00.

This is a consultation, not a rule change. ANTAQ has not announced a new tariff, a new mandatory free-time period, or an immediate suspension of demurrage or detention charges. The immediate significance is that the regulator is formally reopening the evidence base for a subject that affects the allocation of delay, equipment-availability and documentation risk across carriers, NVOCCs, intermediaries, terminals, depots and cargo interests.

The review follows ANTAQ’s Acórdão No. 521/2025, which set regulatory interpretations for container overstaying. Among them, the agency said demurrage should depend on use beyond free time arising from the user’s interest, choice, fault or business risk. It also stated that charges should not apply where the extended use results from an act, omission or logistics failure attributable to the carrier, its nominated terminal or empty-container depot, or a risk allocated to those parties. Where a user can evidence a first unsuccessful attempt to return an empty unit, the ruling says the count should be suspended until an effective receiving condition is made available.

In January 2026, ANTAQ further directed stakeholders with unresolved questions on demurrage, detention and depot management toward the Regulatory Agenda process. The new call therefore creates a defined channel for the industry to test whether the current framework, including those prior interpretations, provides sufficient predictability in actual port and depot operations.

**Why this matters.** For shipowners and operators, the consultation may shape how clearly carrier-facing contractual terms, empty-return instructions, terminal interfaces and exception handling must be evidenced in Brazil. For cargo owners, forwarders and insurers, it reinforces the importance of contemporaneous records: release notices, gate appointments, depot refusal evidence, terminal operating notices, screenshots, correspondence and proof of each attempted empty return. The central operational question is not simply how long a container remained outside free time, but which party controlled the condition that prevented its return or release.

Stakeholders should distinguish this consultation from an adjudication of individual invoices. Existing obligations remain in force while ANTAQ gathers submissions. Parties facing live disputes should preserve a time-stamped chain of operational evidence and review contract wording, local instructions and documented causation before treating any charge as uncontested.