Wednesday, September 27 2006 13:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Brussels: International charity group Oxfam on Wednesday criticised the European Union (EU) for trying to forge free trade deals with the world's poorest nations, saying such agreements were unfair and not conducive to development. The EU - which has been struggling for four years to strike free trade agreements with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states - was "still failing to put development at the heart of these trade agreements," Oxfam said. "The proposed deals will hurt rather than help the ACP countries by exposing their farmers to direct and unfair competition with highly subsidised EU producers", the charity group warned. It also said that the planned agreements would make ACP governments lose control over key policy instruments for development such as tariff policy, competition and investment rules. Oxfam said the EU must redirect negotiations with the ACP nations, calling for a further opening of the bloc's markets to exporters from those countries and an end to ambitions of reciprocal market access. If the deals are to help poor countries, they should not lead to losses in government revenue and employment, Oxfam stressed. It also said that EU aid should not be made conditional to the signature of an economic partnership agreement with the EU. "The future of some of the world's poorest people is at stake and Europe refuses to heed their concerns," said Oxfam's EU director Luis Morago.

"To have a fruitful trading partnership between Europe and its ACP partners, you can't have one side constantly dictating the rules of the game," he said.