Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam plans to export several kinds ofagricultural products to the European Union on September 16-17 under theEU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), following the successful shipment of shrimps– the first enjoying the agreement’s tax incentives.

Specifically, on September 16, the Dong Giao Exported FoodJoint Stock Company will export passion fruit and the Vinh Hiep 400 LimitedCompany will ship coffee to the EU.

Meanwhile, on September 17, grapefruit, coconut and dragonfruit will be exported to this market by the VINA T&T Group Company.

Thanks to tariff cuts under the agreement, the door is openwide for many of Vietnamese agricultural products to enter the EU.

The EU is the biggest importer of Vietnamese coffee,accounting for 40 percent of the total volume and 38 percent of the totalturnover.

Domestic coffee is expected to enjoy better value in the EUmarket in the near future due to the EU eliminating tariffs placed on allunroasted or roasted coffee products. Indeed, import duties will decrease bybetween 7 percent and 11 percent to zero, while processed coffee will also enjoya preferential tariff of zero from its previous rate of between 9 percent and12 percent.

Moreover, the nation’s 39 geographical indications,including Buon Ma Thuot coffee, will be protected by the EU, which has offeredthe Vietnamese coffee industry an advantage when competing with rivals withinthe EU market.

With the EVFTA bringing about an array of changes, MARDDeputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh has urged the local coffee industry to meet thestringent requirements set by the EU market, particularly in relation toproduct quality and sustainable development.

Local fruit and vegetables have been able to enjoy a wealthof opportunities to penetrate the EU since August 1 following the EU pledgingto offer a substantial reduction of 94 percent out of total 547 tax linesplaced on these products.

Along with tax incentives included in the EVFTA, localfruits will be able to hold a competitive edge in the EU markets in comparisonwith strong competitors that have not signed an FTA with the EU, such asThailand, China, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

In fact, the export of local fruit and vegetables to the EUin August witnessed a surge of 25.2 percent to 14.7 million USD from theprevious month, marking an annual rise of 6 percent.

In line with these figures, the country has emerged as aleading exporter of passion fruit in the region, with the item penetratingdemanding markets such as France, Germany, and the Netherlands, along withmarkets outside of the EU such as the Republic of Korea and Switzerland.

Currently, the MARD is negotiating a pathway for fresh passionfruit to enter other major markets like Australia, China, Japan, and Thailandin the near future.

According to the MARD data, a month of from theimplementation of the EVFTA, several Vietnamese export items have alreadyrecorded positive changes in the EU market. This can be seen through the exportvalue of agro-forestry- fishery products to the EU in August which enjoyed asurge of 17 percent to 350 million USD./.