New port law would settle controversy with Cosco

The Plenary Session of the Congress of the Republic could have put an end to the controversy initiated by the National Port Authority (APN) against the company Cosco Shipping for the exclusivity of services in the Chancay Megaport, after changes to the Law were approved this week of the Port System that allow the Peruvian State to issue this type of licenses.

Although it was initially speculated that the issuance of the rule would not favor the position of the private investor due to a non-retroactivity issue, close sources who are involved in the case informed La República that it “covers the gap that the APN once said existed.”

The project that integrates the approaches of congressmen José Cueto and María Acuña has two fundamental aspects: the exclusivity of services, which aims to give the Executive a tool to interpret the “legal loophole” that the APN attributed during the signing of the contract with Cosco in 2021, and the extension of port concessions from 30 to 60 years.

“This opens the way for a solution on service exclusivity once it is enacted and regulated,” said the source.

Although the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC) has already been formally accepted by the Judiciary, the company has not yet been notified of the case. Everything Cosco knows about the controversy has come through the media.

“For the company, exclusivity is always a given. But we assume that, when the new law is promulgated, there will be a subtraction of the matter,” said another source close to Cosco.

However, this does not end the conversations between the Chinese-owned company and the Peruvian State. On the one hand, there is the judicial process carried out by the MTC for the exclusivity of services and on the other, the negotiations within the framework of the FTA with China regarding the supervision that Ositrán would exercise over the port.

Recently, Cosco gave the Peruvian State six months to resolve the controversy with its port regulators. The end of this period coincides with the inauguration of the APEC 2024 summit, organized in our country, and where the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, is expected to cut the ribbon on the Chancay Megaport.

The second part of the new law, approved in Parliament with 68 votes in favor, 24 against and 4 abstentions, does not concern Cosco. The contract for its terminal, located north of Lima, has no expiration period, as it is private. For example, there are other ports around the world whose concessions extend beyond 90 years.

Chancay begins operations in November

The works at the Chancay Megaport are at 85%. The first ship with the cranes for the container yard arrives on June 14, and ten days later the second shipment will arrive with the STS cranes, 80 meters high. There are a total of five ships that will set sail every 15 days to equip the terminal.

Renewal from 30 to 60 years may occur through joint venture contracts, leases, concessions, shared risk contracts, management contracts, corporate contracts and other modalities established in the legislation.