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On 1 July 2023, a new resolution of the federal regulatory agency that deals with shipboard waste collection services in Brazilian ports came into effect
The National Agency of Waterway Transport (ANTAQ) issued Resolution 99, published in the Official Gazette of 1 June 2023, revoking previous regulations and introducing a new set of procedures for licensing services of removal, shore reception, and final disposal of wastes generated from vessels calling at Brazilian ports.
As defined by the new regulation, shipboard residues comprise solid, semi-solid, pasty, or liquid waste generated during the normal operation of the vessel, such as dirty ballast water, oily bilge water, oily residues (sludge), tank washings (slops), sewage, water with oil resulting from scrapping off tanks, cargo holds and hulls, harmful liquid chemicals, garbage (including plastics), food and domestic wastes, washwaters and residues from exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers), ozone-depleting substances, hospital waste, among others.
Regulatory novelties
ANTAQ Resolution 99/2023 included the need for a Manifest for Waste Transport (MTR), a management tool and a declaratory document issued by the waste generator (represented by the shipowning company or, in case of foreign-flagged vessels, by a shipping agency) to cover its transport ashore.
The regulation also instituted the Ship Waste Delivery Certificate (CRRE), a standardised document issued by the service providers containing information regarding shipboard waste from the collection on board to delivery at an environmentally appropriate final destination. The CRRE is inspired by the reporting format adopted by the Annexes to the MARPOL Convention.
Duties and responsibilities
Reporting requirements
The shipping company or its legal representative (local agent) is responsible for ensuring the environmentally appropriate final destination and providing the controlling authority with proof of proper disposal within 20 days after completion. They should consult the Port Reception Facility Database of the Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS), maintained by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), to ensure the relevant authority properly authorises the prospective contractors to provide waste collection services.
Upon completion of the service, the waste removal contractors must submit a copy of the CREE to the shipowner (or its local agent) and the controlling authority within 30 days.
ANTAQ remains responsible for gathering data collated by the controlling authorities from shipboard waste handling and reception facilities and entering the information in the GISIS.
Hiring of services
The shipowners or their agents must seek permission from the controlling authority and hire qualified service providers at least 24 hours before the vessel arrives at the port facility, specifying the types of waste to be collected using the forms provided for in the regulation. For passages of less than 24 hours, the application must be made upon departure from the last port of call.
The shipping company or its legal representative is responsible before the relevant authorities for entering unmanifested products or for delivering waste other than specified and for which collection has been authorised. Service providers remain co-responsible for the undue reception of waste other than those listed in the CREE.
Service providers cannot refuse to render the service they are qualified for except when justifiable. Likewise, the controlling authority cannot deny permission for waste removal if the service provider complies with the provisions of the Resolution, except in specific and technically justified.
Waste removal can only be carried out after the vessel receives free pratique.
Penalties
ANTAQ’s new regulation provides for penalties ranging from warnings to fines against regulated agents, as established in Resolution 3,259/2014, according to the seriousness of the offence, as follows:
| Severity of infraction | Fine Grading |
| Light | up to BRL 150,000 |
| Medium | BRL 150,000 to BRL 300,000 |
| Serious | BRL 300,000 to BRL 600,000 |
| Extremely serious | above BRL 600,000 |
Should there be more than one violation in the notice of infraction, the jurisdiction for its judgment will be determined based on the most serious offense.
Fines eventually imposed by ANTAQ do not prejudice the application of other penalties arising from pollution liabilities or breaches of port health regulations.
Therefore, shipowners and operators requiring shipboard waste removal should consult with their local agents to check the availability and credentials of the local service providers and shore waste reception facilities well ahead of the vessel’s arrival.
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