(NAIROBI) - Kenya on Tuesday accused the European Union of "arm-twisting" poor African, Caribbean and Pacific nations into agreeing to new trade pacts.

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 trade conditions expire.

"The impression I get is that the European Union wants to use this (deadline) to arm-twist for more concessions on market access from our countries," Kenyan Trade Minister Mukhisa Kituyi told reporters.

"It is not acceptable that we have less than two months to the end of the current trade and tariff arrangement and there isn't sufficient signal of solidarity to assure our exporters that there will be no (tariffs) that can cost contracts in the European markets," Kituyi explained.

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.

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) has 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 Peter Mandelson on Monday 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.

If new trade deals fail to take effect in January, the wealthier African nations, including Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria, will automatically face a specific band of tariffs set by the World Trade Organisation.

Nonetheless, 40 of the ACP countries considered least developed will still benefit from the previous preferential trade conditions.

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