The complaint was filed on Monday, March 13 of this year. There he referred to ANP’s refusal to could serve the Ipanema ship of the Mediterranean Shipping Company at the public docks -where Montecon operates- and to the obstruction in the attention of ships, including the main service attended by the company.
In that letter Montecon requested the immediate cessation of these conducts, sanction the ANP and order it to do what is necessary to guarantee the provision of efficient and competitive services on public docks.
On May 23, the commission issued the resolution. In it, he indicated that on May 8, a representative of the ANP appeared who requested that Montecon’s complaint be rejected for constituting an abuse of rights and that he exonerate the administration of any responsibility.
Leonardo Carreno
National Administration of Ports
About the five cases denounced by Montecon about alleged anti-competitive practices indicated that it acted faithfully following the provisions of the Docking Regulations of the Port of Montevideo drafted in decree 115 of 2021. He added that the complaint should be rejected in all its terms since ANP acted in strict compliance with current regulatory standards.
Decree 115 granted berthing priority to Terminal Cuenca del Plata (TCP) for container ships. It was prepared after the extension of the concession that the government agreed with Katoen Natie for TCP (owned by that Belgian multinational).
The resolution stated that the representative of the ANP maintained that the administration could not be blamed for applying the Docking Regulations of the Port of Montevideo, through which dock priorities were established according to the categories of vessels, treating to reconcile daily in a limited space, the different activities that take place in the port.
The Commission took into account a report prepared by its technicians and on that basis did not envision that the facts presented by Montecon “imply an abuse of the procedural channels”.
It considered that “the action of the ANP in the case presented is covered by the provisions indicated and the Docking Regulations of the Port of Montevideo, which establishes the system of docking priorities and the obligation to assign docks with different priorities according to the type of ship”.
He stated that for the reasons set forth, The Commission for the Defense of Competition decided to file the proceedings for not finding merit reasons to continue.
