PULP MILLS (JUDGMENT) 36 31. On 9 October 2003, MVOTMA issued an initial environmental authorization to CMB for the construction of the CMB (ENCE) mill. On the same date the Presidents of Argentina and Uruguay met at Anchorena (Colonia, Uruguay). Argentina maintains that the President of Uruguay, Jorge Battle, then promised his Argentine counterpart, Néstor Kirchner, that no authorization would be issued before Argentina’s environmental concerns had been addressed. Uruguay challenges this version of the facts and contends that the Parties agreed at that meeting to deal with the CMB (ENCE) project otherwise than through the procedure under Articles 7 to 12 of the 1975 Statute and that Argentina let it be known that it was not opposed to the project per se. Argentina disputes these assertions. 32. The day after the meeting between the Heads of State of Argentina and Uruguay, CARU declared its willingness to resume the technical analyses of the CMB (ENCE) project as soon as Uruguay transmitted the awaited documents. On 17 October 2003, CARU held an extraordinary plenary meeting at the request of Argentina, at which Argentina complained of Uruguay’s granting on 9 October 2003 of the initial environmental authorization. Following the extraordinary meeting CARU suspended work for more than six months, as the Parties could not agree on how to implement the consultation mechanism established by the 1975 Statute. 33. On 27 October 2003, Uruguay transmitted to Argentina copies of the environmental impact assessment submitted by ENCE on 22 July 2002, of DINAMA’s final assessment report dated 2 October 2003 and of the initial environmental authorization of 9 October 2003. Argentina reacted by expressing its view that Article 7 of the 1975 Statute had not been observed and that the transmitted documents did not appear adequate to allow for a technical opinion to be expressed on the environmental impact of the project. On 7 November 2003, further to a request from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Uruguay provided Argentina with a copy of the Uruguayan Ministry of the Environment’s entire file on the CMB (ENCE) project. On 23 February 2004, Argentina forwarded all of this documentation received from Uruguay to CARU. 34. On 2 March 2004, the Parties’ Ministers for Foreign Affairs met in Buenos Aires. On 15 May 2004, CARU resumed its work at an extraordinary plenary meeting during which it took note of the ministerial “understanding” which was reached on 2 March 2004. The Parties are at odds over the content of this “understanding”. The Court will return to this when it considers Argentina’s claims as to Uruguay’s breach of its procedural obligations under the 1975 Statute (see paragraphs 67 to 158). 35. Following up on CARU’s extraordinary meeting of 15 May 2004, the CARU Subcommittee on Water Quality and Pollution Control pre26