Mercosur

• Sunday, January 27th 2013 - 02:03 UTC

  With Argentine navy’ honour lying on her side, Minister Puricelli could be next official removed

  

  The Argentine government has removed two top naval officers from their duties following the sinking, this week at her moorings pier-side of the destroyer “Santisima Trinidad” once the flagship of the service and which was actively involved in the invasion of the Falklands in 1982.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 20:44 UTC

  Mercosur/Paraguay controversy reaches EU/CELAC summit in Chile

  

  Chile confirmed that Paraguay finally decided not to attend the EU/CELAC summit in Chile putting an end to a controversy when it emerged that several Mercosur and Unasur members insisted that the landlocked country should not be invited.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 17:48 UTC

  Argentina easing imports’ restrictions mainly for Mercosur associates

  

  The government of President Cristina Fernandez has decided to revoke non-automatic licensing requirements which had been placed on certain products before they could be imported into Argentina for consumption, according to a resolution published Friday on the Official Gazette. But earlier in the week Argentina increased the import tariff on a hundred products to the maximum authorized by WTO, which is 35%.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 15:24 UTC

  Falklands to host Commonwealth lawmakers’ conference: ‘self determination and devolution’ in agenda

  

  The Falkland Islands will be hosting the 43rd British Islands and Mediterranean Region (BIMR) Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) from the 11th to 15th February 2013. This is the second time BIMR holds its annual conference in the Falklands, last time was in February 2004.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 05:43 UTC

  Falklands make £8m transfer to “Oil Development Reserve”, future sovereign wealth fund

  

  The government of the Falkland Islands has made a transfer of over 8 million pounds (£ 8.274 million) to the new Oil Development Reserve, a first step towards a ‘Sovereign Wealth Fund’ based on the Norwegian model it was explained at this week’s meeting of the Standing Finance Committee.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 04:43 UTC

  Monsanto reaches agreement on patent royalties with Brazilian soybean farmers

  

  Monsanto the world’s biggest seed company agreed to waive two years of royalties on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds for Brazilian farmers who agree to forgo claims in a patent dispute.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 04:38 UTC

  Dengue kills 16 in Paraguay where 13.000 cases have been reported

  

  Paraguay’s health authorities have reported that sixteen people have died of dengue disease since the beginning of the year, ten directly infected and the other six as a consequence of other complications.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 04:10 UTC

  EU and Brazil agree on a “speedy conclusion” of the trade pact with Mercosur

  

  Brazilian and European leaders called on Thursday for the speedy conclusion of a free trade and cooperation agreement between the European Union and Mercosur. The call for action was made as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff hosted European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

• Thursday, January 24th 2013 - 01:14 UTC

  Brazilian industry claims Mercosur is ‘paralyzed’ and blasts Argentina’s ‘illegal barriers’ on trade

  

  Brazil’s powerful manufacturers’ lobby openly criticized the “illegal barriers” imposed by the government of President Cristina Fernandez on Brazilian produce, and also lashed at President Dilma Rousseff for her administration’s “permissive attitude” towards Buenos Aires, a position that has “paralyzed Mercosur”.

• Thursday, January 24th 2013 - 00:25 UTC

  For Santander bank, “Brazil is the most important country in the world”

  

  Banco Santander chairman Emilio Botin denied this week that he is selling his company’s assets in Brazil and said his bank is only interested in “buying” in Latinamerica’s leading economy.