Source: Intelog (RS), 24/06/2009

The proposal of the Special Ports Secretariat (SEP), a body directly linked to the Presidency of the Republic - to reduce the documentation circulating in Brazilian ports was presented to representatives of the port community of Paranaguá.

The intention of the Porto Sem Papel project is to create a single database, which provides the necessary information from shipowners and maritime agents and from export and import companies to all consenting agencies, in particular, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa ), Ministry of Health, Federal Revenue, Navy, Federal Police and Port Authority.

For the director of the SEP's Port Information System Department, Luis Fernando Resano, responsible for the presentation in Paranaguá, this is an essential step forward, which will speed up operations and reduce Brazil Cost. With the existing IT (information technology) resources we can reduce the absurd amount of papers, in addition to the comings and goings to banks for payment of fees. It will be a tool in which government authorities will be able to have the same confidence as papers and will allow port planning in Brazil, explained Resano.

The port data concentrator is just one aspect of Porto Sem Papel. The implementation of other systems, such as the intelligent cargo and satellite monitoring of vessels in the anchorage areas of the ports (Vessel Traffic Management System VTMS), are also part of the set of measures provided for in the project.

The Port of Santos, according to Resano, will be the first to implement the Port Without Paper, starting in April 2010. SEP is formalizing agreements with the consenting bodies. The Federal Data Processing Service (Serpro) is responsible for the development and operation of the project. The Port Authority will participate in this last stage.

Santos was chosen by the project's decision-making committee because it is the biggest port, considering that there are all problems, all complexities. So, we started from a more complex port to reach the less complex ones, explained Resano, stating that he was not aware of the next ports to be contemplated.

The SEP director explained that Porto Sem Papel will have to be adopted, even by private terminals. This system is not from the port. It is from the Brazilian government. The Brazilian authorities will only analyze documents (from ships arriving at a port or terminal) received through the Port Without Paper.

Also according to Resano, the Porto Sem Papel proposal comes in second place on the list of priority projects of the Secretariat of Ports. Dredging is the main one, but one project is very associated with the other because there is no point in doing dredging, allowing larger ships to come to ports, if we maintain all the existing bureaucracy structure in the country, he added.