Spanish Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Bastarreche January 20n urged for quick implementation of the free trade pact between South Africa and the European Union (EU).

Bastarreche, who is on a visit in Pretoria, said Spain is "extremely happy" with the South Africa-EU trade, development and cooperation agreement. "We hope it will enter into force as soon as possible," he said after meeting his South African counterpart Aziz Pahad.

In the latest hurdle to the deal, Italy and Greece insisted that South African liquor producers should stop the use of the terms of "grappa" (made in Italy) and "ouzo" (made in Greece) to describe their wine products.

"There have been some unexpected hitches, but I think that in the nature of such comprehensive negotiations one must expect this to happen," Pahad said.

He said that "we must be optimistic because we are convinced that both sides see the importance of this deal." The South Africa-EU trade deal, which is worth 170 billion US dollars, was signed last October and has been in effect since January 1 this year. However, Italy and Greece refused to ratify the agreement because South Africa did not meet their demands to phase out the using of "grappa" and " ouzo".