(BRUSSELS) - EU trade chief Peter Mandelson sought on Monday to reassure farmers in poor African, Caribbean and Pacific nations that new trade pacts would not release a flood of subsidised European products into their markets.

The European Commission and the 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific rim countries making up the so-called ACP group are struggling to clinch new agreements by the end of the year, when current preferential access expires.

The new agreements would require ACP countries to gradually open their markets to European goods in exchange for open access to European markets from January 1 2008, with the exception of rice and sugar.

Mandelson told lawmakers at the European Parliament ACP countries "will have flexibility to exclude sensitive sectors and delay liberalisation to allow time for growing industries to adapt to change."

In industries where ACP countries were in "direct competition" with EU products such as "processed agricultural goods and for subsistence products", Mandelson said: "I have told my teams not to seek market opening."

He added that if in the future ACP countries removed barriers to agriculture markets where the EU currently has export subsidies, then "we are commited to removing those (subsidies) immediately in the case of those products which would be exported to ACP countries."

Existing trade agreements giving preferential market access to the former colonies have to be replaced by the end of the year because the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled that they were illegal.

The Commission, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of the 27 EU nations, is conducting the talks with regions because of the large number of countries involved.

The EU trade commissioner acknowledged that some regions in the ACP might not be ready to sign full deals or even framework agreements by the end of the year deadline.

While he noted progress in the talks with ACP countries in the Caribbean and the Pacific, he criticized oil-rich Nigeria for holding up talks with the west African region.

"It is quite clear to me that Nigeria which is the dominant country, the dominant economy in the region, wants to sit like an elephant in the middle of the road and stop the rest from proceeding," he said.

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