The Bill 1765/19 exempts from the payment of the Additional to the Freight for Renewal of the Merchant Navy (AFRMM) until January 8th, 2027, the goods whose origin or destination is located in the North or Northeast, in the navigations of cabotage, inland waterway and lacustrine. AFRMM is the basic source of the Merchant Marine Fund, which supports the development in Brazil of the merchant marine and shipbuilding and repair industry. The generating event is the beginning of the unloading operation of the vessel in the Brazilian port. The additional charge is on the freight paid for the transportation of the cargo with rates of 10% to 40%, depending on the type of navigation. The Cabotage Law (9,432 / 97) granted exemption from the AFRMM for the North and Northeast for ten years, until 2007. Later, Law 11.482 / 07 extended the deadline until January 8, 2022. The proposal under review in the Chamber of Deputies establishes a further extension, for five years, but with reduction of at least 10% each year in the total amount after January 8th, 2022. The author, Júnior Ferrari (PSD-PA), stated that the AFRMM exemption and other current incentives helped the North and Northeast regions to attract investment and to present important results in economic and social indicators. “But as the end of the exemption nears, both regions fear that this virtuous crop will be halted,” he said. Júnior Ferrari also argued that, because it has the legal nature of an intervention contribution in the economic field, with a regulatory and an economic policy instrument, the AFRMM may include exemptions in order to stimulate specific sectors. According to him, this is what happens in the transport of fuels in certain vessels in the North and Northeast regions.
Source: Portos e Navios