THE EUROPEAN Union's policy of signing interim trade deals with poor states in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) region is in danger of unravelling due to lengthy delays in translation.

Under normal EU procedures, the text of all trade deals must be translated into all 23 official languages of the union before they can be formally signed. But the European Commission has warned EU states that if this procedure is followed for the so-called interim "economic partnership agreements" (EPA) with ACP states, the deals may unravel.

According to documents seen by The Irish Times, the translation and legal verification of the agreements may not be complete until Easter 2009. "Such delays would have repercussions on WTO [World Trade Organisation] notification and legal security. It may also increase political risks that certain ACP countries change their mind and decide not to sign the interim EPAs," they warn.

The commission is urging the Council of Ministers to agree to waive the requirement for full translation before the EPA deals can be formally signed. But EU states jealously guard the practice of ensuring full translation and no agreement has yet been found.

The interim trade deals, or EPAs, are extremely controversial, with non-governmental organisations such as Oxfam accusing the EU of unfairly pressurising poor countries to open their markets to EU goods and services.

The EU rejects this and says it has no choice but to agree the deals because of legal rulings by the WTO which say the union should not offer preferential access to former colonies.

So far, the union has signed several interim EPA deals with individual states such as Cameroon, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, as well as regional deals with the Southern African Development Community.

But there is concern among commission officials that the EPA deals could unravel, particularly if there is no wider WTO deal this week.