The maritime cabotage, represented by the movement of goods along the coastline, has shown as a competitive modal against other transportation systems, especially because of its low cost freight. The objective of this paper is to present what the literature brings about the cabotage regulation and to develop a comparison between Canadian and Brazilian markets. In a first analysis, the Canadian's system goes through problems of productivity efficiency, especially for the short stayed permitted time of foreign containers in the country. In a contrast, the extensive coastline and the high import taxes, contribute to the development of Brazilian cabotage. However, the policies of Mercosur prevent the cabotage along countries in the same coast (i.e. Brasil-Argentina), a fact that would facilitate trade between the countries.
transportation; regulation; cabotage