The legislative framework for shipping is scattered across many different statutes. Key legislation is contained in the Brazilian Federal Constitution, the Brazilian Commercial Code dated 1850 and the Brazilian Civil Code dated 2002, which regulates contracts of carriage.
There are also other uncodified statutes, such as Federal Law 2,180/1954, which regulates the Admiralty Court and its jurisdiction, Decree-Law 116/1967 addressing, inter alia, limitation for cargo claims in shipping disputes, and Federal Law 7,542/1986, which regulates wreck removal.
Federal Law 10,233/2001 created the National Waterway Transportation Agency (ANTAQ), whose mandate includes the regulation of domestic and international waterway carriage of people and goods, offshore platform and port supply navigation, ports and terminals and the exploitation of the federal waterway infrastructure.
Federal Law 9,537/1997 regulates waterway safety in Brazilian territorial waters, Federal Law 9,432/1997 provides the statutory framework regulating waterway transportation, while Federal Law 9,611/1998 regulates multimodal transportation.
The Brazilian Navy, which acts as the national maritime authority, has an active role in shipping matters. It presides on the procedures tried before the Admiralty Court and issues norms, which are mandatory law within Brazilian jurisdictional waters, known as NORMAM.
Brazil is not a signatory to the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading 1924 (the Hague Rules), the 1968 Protocol to amend the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading (the Hague-Visby Rules), the UN Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea 1978 (the Hamburg Rules) or the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea 2009 (the Rotterdam Rules). However, Brazil has ratified most of the conventions on marine safety, such as the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGs), the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 (SOLAS) and the International Convention on Salvage 1989 (the 1989 Salvage Convention). Brazil has also ratified the International Convention on Maritime Liens and Mortgages 1993.
In practical terms, the statutory framework outlined above is designed to protect and develop the local shipping market.
Source: thelawreviews
