The Senate approved today (25) the bill that institutes the Program to Stimulate Transport by Cabotage, which will create a way for the movement of cargo between ports within the country. The proposal was amended and will return to the Chamber of Deputies.
The project that creates the BR do Mar, as the program was named, is considered a priority by the federal government, which works for the approval of the proposal before the end of the year. The project aims to facilitate the entry of new cargo transport companies, lowering the price of freight and encouraging transport by navigation.
The text provides for the creation of the Brazilian Navigation Investment Company (EBN-i), which should assemble a fleet and charter vessels for Brazilian navigation companies (EBNs) to operate, eliminating the need for them to invest in their own fleet. The project expands the allocation of funds from the Merchant Marine Fund (FMM), allowing funds from the fund to be used for other possibilities, such as preventive maintenance on vessels.
The main change was the approval of devices intended to encourage the entry of new shipping companies without their own vessels into the cabotage market. The text also allows EBN-i to set up a foreign subsidiary to reduce costs and provide more regularity to the service and predictability of freight prices.
Foot test
The Senate also approved the bill that expands the scope of the exam known as the little foot test, which detects diseases in newborns. Authored by senators Mara Gabrilli (PSDB-SP) and Jorge Kajuru (Podemos-GO), the proposal modifies the Statute of Children and Adolescents to include, in the test, diseases such as muscular dystrophies and other neuromuscular diseases. The project is going to be analyzed by the Chamber of Deputies.
*With information from the Senate Agency
