Demurrage and Detention: ANTAQ holds webinar and proposes sweeping changes to charges

In its 8 October webinar, ANTAQ detailed the review of the demurrage and detention rule. Contributions until 20 October.

In a webinar broadcast on 8 October, ANTAQ, Brazil's waterway transport regulator, presented its preliminary Regulatory Impact Assessment on container demurrage and detention and called on the sector to contribute through Call for Contributions SRG No. 3/2026, open until 23:59 on 20 October (Brasília time). The diagnosis starts from a mismatch: by the agency's estimate, about 1,900 containers go into demurrage and detention disputes every month, while it analysed some 56 cases a month in early 2025, around 3% of that total.

In revising Resolution No. 62/2021, the agency proposes defining the terms that currently fuel conflict, such as "proven default", "unavailability" and "disputed charge". The board has already held that a charge disputed before ANTAQ is not a proven default and therefore does not allow the shipping line to refuse new bookings. The revision also seeks to spell out who bears which risk, in a responsibility matrix, to set validity and transparency requirements for charges and to provide for infringements and penalties. Among the options on the table are nullity criteria, such as charges lacking transparency about where the amounts come from or issued late, with the user released from paying and protected against retaliation.

Beyond the rule, ANTAQ proposes its own electronic platform to receive disputes and challenges, alongside carriers' channels, encouraging settlement and with the agency deciding unresolved cases, plus a guidance document on transparency of charges and communication between the parties.

The options were grouped into decision blocks and compared through multi-criteria analysis using the AHP method. Two measures were left out: a minimum free-time period, because it would interfere with negotiation between the parties, and periodic reporting to the agency of data on all charges, because the dispute platform would already generate that information.

<strong>Importers and exporters.</strong> The platform is the change with the greatest practical effect. The report itself notes that most challenges are currently made by email, with no tracking or deadline. In the strongest design, ANTAQ would review the complaint and the carrier's response and decide, in a binding way, whether the charge is legitimate when the parties fail to agree.

<strong>Freight forwarders and NVOCCs.</strong> The most sensitive point of the proposal is treating the freight forwarder as a mere conduit for the shipping line's charges: its charge could not exceed the shipping line's without a triggering event of its own, its free time could not be shorter, and the invoice would have to split the shipping line's amount from the intermediation fee. The freight forwarder, however, is not a neutral intermediary. It issues its own bill of lading, is liable to both the shipping line and the customer, and bears its own costs and risks, which its tariff needs to reflect. The dispute platform can also work in its favour, as a channel to challenge undue shipping-line charges, with deadlines and a decision.

Our take

the design presented takes demurrage and detention disputes out of email and into a process with records, deadlines and, ultimately, a decision by the agency. It is a real opportunity for those who pay charges without a documented triggering event, and a risk for those who charge that way. But a binding agency decision on the legitimacy of a charge between private parties runs into the same question of jurisdiction we raised in issue 001, and the Call for Contributions, open until 20 October, is where that limit and the position of the freight forwarder, which is liable as a contracting party to the shipping line and cannot be treated as a mere conduit for its charges, need to be argued. The contributions that carry weight are those backed by real cases and figures.

Questions for your company

Importers and exporters: How many demurrage and detention charges did your company challenge in the last 12 months, through which channel, and how many received a reasoned answer?
Freight forwarders and NVOCCs: Does your demurrage tariff show the costs and risks of your own operation that justify an amount and free time different from the shipping line's?
Freight forwarders and NVOCCs: In your contracts with shipping lines, is your company liable as a direct debtor for demurrage and detention? If so, the rule cannot treat it as a mere intermediary when it charges, and that is what needs to be argued by 20 October.
All: Are the cases and figures that would support your company's contribution to the Call for Contributions gathered?

Sources

What changed

US proposes electronic entry and a bond for shipments of up to US$ 2,500

United States

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published on 8 October 2026 a proposal for low-value shipments. Informal entry of goods worth up to US$ 2,500 would have to be filed electronically, on or before the date of importation, and covered by a bond. Postal shipments would get their own entry type, with the tracking number on the manifest. Comments are open until 7 December 2026.

Gentil reading: For exporters selling to the US in small shipments, including through e-commerce, and for freight forwarders and NVOCCs consolidating this kind of cargo, the question is who will file the entry and who will pay the bond on each shipment. That is a cost and risk decision that belongs in the contract before the rule exists, and the comments to CBP are the moment to point out what the proposal leaves unclear, such as its reach by mode of transport.

Source: Federal Register, Low-Value Shipments, doc. 2026-20650 (08/10/2026), 91 FR 64532 a 64563; docket USCBP-2026-0298; base: 19 U.S.C. 1498(a)(1)(A); GovInfo, Federal Register Vol. 91, nº 194 (08/10/2026), doc. 2026-20650

US: Section 301 actions against China remain in effect

United States

The USTR, the US trade representative's office, confirmed in a notice dated 7 October 2026 that the Section 301 actions against China remain in effect. The action of July 2018, as modified, did not terminate in 2026, and the action of August 2018 received the same treatment. Both stay subject to further modifications, including any resulting from the statutory four-year review, and the USTR will publish a separate notice seeking comment on the effectiveness of the actions. A supplementary notice issued the same day amends a product exclusion because of a statistical change by the USITC, the US International Trade Commission, keeps the existing coverage and applies retroactively to 1 July 2026.

Gentil reading: Map which Chinese-origin products pass through your operations with the US and whether any relies on a product exclusion, whose coverage was kept. The notice sets no deadline and no action for importers. The decision is internal: who follows the next modifications and who adjusts contracts and prices when they arrive.

Source: Federal Register, doc. 2026-20510 (07/10/2026), USTR, 91 FR 64212; Federal Register, doc. 2026-20511 (07/10/2026), USTR, aviso complementar

ANTAQ: waterway transport grew 9.81% in 2025 to 374.6 billion TKU

ANTAQ

ANTAQ, Brazil's waterway transport regulator, reported on 7 October 2026 that the sector reached 374.6 billion TKU (tonne-kilometres useful) in 2025, up 9.81%. Coastal shipping (cabotage) totalled 286.92 billion (+6.49%) and inland navigation 42.70 billion (+21.06%). Long-haul (international) shipping on inland waterways reached 44.98 billion (+23.46%). Rail transport stood at 408.20 billion (+2.50%).

Gentil reading: For exporters and importers, the data shows where volume grew: inland navigation and long-haul shipping on inland waterways rose more than 20%, and cabotage 6.49%. For freight forwarders and NVOCCs, the decision is whether their routes and freight contracts already cover those modes. The figures are national and say nothing about your specific route.

Source: ANTAQ, Transporte aquaviário registra crescimento de 9,81% e alcança 374,6 bilhões de TKU em 2025 (07/10/2026)

MDIC: September trade balance closes with a US$ 7.7 billion surplus

MDIC

Brazil exported US$ 34.4 billion and imported US$ 26.7 billion in September 2026, according to MDIC, the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services. The surplus was US$ 7.7 billion and total trade flow was US$ 61.1 billion. Figures are FOB (free on board), that is, excluding freight and insurance. The release is dated 6 October 2026.

Gentil reading: For exporters and importers, the surplus is a snapshot of the country in the month and says nothing about your product or destination: before using it in price or contract negotiations, compare it with the performance of your own portfolio. For freight forwarders and NVOCCs, total trade flow measures the country's overall movement; the decision is to compare the volume of your routes in September with that total.

Source: MDIC, Balança Comercial; MDIC, divulga balança comercial de setembro de 2026 (06/10/2026)

ANTAQ: Port Performance System returns on a new platform, with deadlines for port facilities

ANTAQ

ANTAQ's Port Performance System (SDP, from the Portuguese Sistema de Desempenho Portuário) has returned on a new platform, and port facilities now have access. It now includes user management, previously handled in the SGU. Every facility must have a master user registered by 20 January 2027. Submissions of vessel unberthing data for March to December 2026 have four deadlines, which are in the agenda.

Gentil reading: The deadlines belong to port facilities, not to freight forwarders, NVOCCs or shippers, so the impact on you is indirect. If your operation depends on a terminal, ask whether it has already registered its master user and has the unberthing submission dates in its routine.

Source: ANTAQ, Sistema de Desempenho Portuário está de volta em nova plataforma (08/10/2026)

Calendar

20 Oct: Deadline for contributions to ANTAQ on container demurrage and detention (Call for Contributions SRG No. 3/2026), 23:59 Brasília time
20 Oct: Deadline for port facilities to submit to ANTAQ's Port Performance System (SDP) the unberthing data for March and April 2026
20 Nov: Deadline to submit unberthing data for May to July 2026 to the SDP
7 Dec: End of comments on the CBP (US Customs and Border Protection) proposal on low-value shipments (docket USCBP-2026-0298)
20 Dec: Deadline to submit unberthing data for August to October 2026 to the SDP
20 Jan 2027: Master user registered for each port facility in the SDP, and deadline to submit unberthing data for November and December 2026

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