Nairobi — Small-scale farmers have lodged a suit objecting to a trade agreement between the State and European Union (EU) for fear that it would make Kenyans poorer.

Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum (KSSFM) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) filed the suit at the High Court in Nairobi on Thursday.

They want the court to declare that the on-going negotiations contravene the Constitution and that the public should be given a chance to participate.

After filing the case the group's lawyer, Mr James Orengo, and officials of KSSFM addressed the Press to explain why they feel the Government should not sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

KSSFM chairman Mr Moses Shaha said: "don't walk us into the drain. The EPA is like the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs)".

Shaha said Kenya's economy needs protection because "developed countries grew up by protecting their markets".

The SAPs that were forced on Kenya in the 1990's by the Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) were partly blamed for the poor performance of the economy.

Small-scale farmers have filed a suit objecting to the signing of a trade pact with the European Union. Picture: File

Ms Esther Bett, a small-scale farmer, also listed as a plaintiff, said the EPA would put the country on a lower footing since European countries would use non-tariff barriers to limit exports from developing countries.

The EPA is expected to be signed in December between African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the EU and would force Kenya to open up its market to EU countries.

Most European nations subsidise their farmers allowing them to sell their produce at a lower price, a practice that can't be supported by small economies like Kenya.

UK charity Action Aid says the pact would have a disastrous effect on developing economies. It estimates that it would leave 750 million people poorer.

Bett said the agreement would be a draw back on the gains achieved in the last five years.

"The EPAs provide for the removal or eventual removal of all trade barriers between Kenya and the EU without the establishment of reciprocal arrangements for the removal of barriers in relation to the immigration or free movement of people particularly from Kenya to the EU" the petitioners say in the suit papers.

They are aggrieved by the fact the public and even Parliament were not involved in the negotiations for the agreement.

A cheap reservoir" of raw materials

They want the court to bar the Government from signing the pact until it shares all relevant information on what the EPA entails.

The EPA, they contend, would make Kenya "a cheap reservoir" of raw materials and labour for European countries.

Shaha said Asian countries that are now classified as developed and were lagging behind Kenya in the 70's "achieved the miracle" by protecting their industries.

The KHRC is involved in the case because the agreement is perceived as a possible avenue for abuse of human rights.

The agreement, the farmers say, would breach the International Covenants on civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights.

Kenya and 80 other ACP countries have enjoyed preferential trade access to the EU. But the World Trade Organisation says those rules must be changed to establish a new free trade regime before January 1 next year.

The proposed EPAs would open up ACP markets to European goods and services. Analysts say this could spell doom for the region's infant industries and economies, and the negotiation of the deals has been a contentious subject in many nations.

Some experts say long-term growth is at risk if ACP nations spurn a global trend toward liberalisation. But some African industries have already felt the pinch of an influx of cheap Chinese goods.

If the EPAs are not in place by December 31, some African producers, such as Kenyan horticultural farmers, will face European import tariffs ranging between five and 25 per cent.

But civil society officials are urging ACP countries not to sign the pacts and instead ask for alternative stop-gap deals to give negotiators ample time to thrash out better agreements.

The poorest countries in Africa will not automatically loose duty- and quota-free access to the EU as they will continue to export under an 'Everything but Arms' pact.

However, slightly wealthier countries such as Mauritius, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast will automatically face tariffs if they fail to meet the deadline.