May 6, 2008 (LPAC)--The major African trade union federation has called on African nations to scrap the free trade Economic Partnership Agreements, which African countries are being asked to sign by the European Union. The union says that these free trade agreements are not in the interest of Africa.

"We join the call for the nullification of the interim EPAs and for appropriate time to be given for negotiating new trade relations between Africa and Europe that take account of Africa's genuine needs for development and regional integration," said International Trade Union Confederation-Africa (ITUC-Africa) secretary general Kwasi Adu-Amankwah on Thursday (May 1), according to a report by AFP.

The EU is using a demand by the World Trade Organization calling for scrapping old preferential agreements because they violate free trade dogmas. "African nations come out as weak partners, subject to neo-liberal dictates of international financial institutions and their accompanying trade rules established by WTO," said Mr Adu-Amankwah.