Weekly Report - 23 August 2007 (ISSN 1741-7422)

ARGENTINA-URUGUAY | Pulp mill. An accident last week in the controversial pulp mill being built by the Finnish company Botnia in Uruguay escalated the diplomatic conflict between the Argentine and Uruguayan governments over the project's environmental credentials. 
The accident, in which sodium sulphate was spilled into the air under strong wind conditions, led the Argentine government to claim a "toxic cloud" reached its territory. Botnia, however, says that this is "an exaggeration" and that only two of the eleven workers that were exposed to the chemical suffered any adverse reaction, and these were "minor". 
According to the local media the Uruguayan President, Tabaré Vázquez, blasted in a cabinet meeting that if Botnia "does not manage [construction work] properly, [the contract] will be terminated". Operations are scheduled to start next month. The Uruguayan government maintains the mill is environmentally sound based on independent assessments. 

CHILE | Trade with India. The Chilean government sealed to a partial trade agreement with India last week. Over 450 Chilean products will now enter India with a duty reduction of up to 100% from the current average of 29% import tax charged by India. The agreement covers copper, cellulose, wood and salmon among other products. Last year Chile exported US$1.5bn worth of goods to India and imported US$164m. The new trade deal with India follows recent free trade agreements with Japan, China and South Korea.