Brazil: Ministry of Communications delivers postal privatization project

The text was delivered by Minister Fábio Faria to the Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Jorge de Oliveira. After analysis by the Executive, the bill will be forwarded to the National Congress for consideration

It will be up to the Ministry of Communications, according to the proposal, to coordinate the elaboration of the policy for the permanent improvement of postal services. - Photo: Cléverson Oliveira / MCom

Oct 16, The minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, delivered, on Wednesday (14), the bill that allows the privatization process of the Post Office to the Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Jorge Oliveira. The objective is to make the postal sector more agile and efficient and to improve the services provided to the population.

Fábio Faria explained that, before being sent to Congress, the bill will be analyzed by the Secretariat for Legal Affairs of the General Secretariat of the Presidency and by the Casa Civil. "The privatization project comes to improve the postal delivery capacity," said the minister.

The business modelling studies, started in August this year, are under preparation by the consultancy Accenture, hired by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES). The deadline for delivering the feasibility analysis is 120 days. "We are talking about the project arriving at the beginning of next year and, by the end of 2021, the idea is to vote and that the Post Office is ready for the privatization process", said Fábio Faria.

According to the minister, the National Congress will be the arena of debates and the postal workers will have the opportunity to talk with deputies and senators on the subject. He also stated that the privatization process will be carried out at the right time and gradually.

“The National Congress must address this issue. It is there the arena where all the necessary requirements will be debated, dealing with the universal delivery of the Post Office, in relation to employees. All of this will be treated with great care in the National Congress and the Ministry of Communications will follow up ", he said.

“This project that we deliver is much more about principles than rules, not least because the National Congress must address this issue”, he added.

PL

Among the guidelines established in the proposal for the regulation of Correios, there is the obligation, on the part of the Union, to guarantee the provision of the Universal Postal Service through a state-owned company, signing of common concession contracts or signing of sponsored concession contracts.

It will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Communications, according to the proposal, to coordinate the elaboration of the policy for the permanent improvement of postal services, the Brazilian Postal Policy and the General Plan of Targets for the Guarantee of the Provision of the Universal Postal Service. The minister guaranteed that the service will be maintained and that "no one will fail to receive letters, bills or any packaging from Correiros".

National Communications Agency

The bill also provides for the creation of the National Communications Agency (Anacom). It will be an extension of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) and will also regulate the services of the National Postal Service System.

Post offices

Linked to the Ministry of Communications, the Post Office is present in practically all Brazilian municipalities. In 2018, it had around 106 thousand employees, of which 92 thousand were operational and 14 thousand were administrative.