HANOI, Oct. 18 -- Four European countries will maintain zero import tariffs on Vietnamese industrial and seafood products once a new free trade agreement takes effect, but Vietnam will take up to 11 years to cut or remove its own duties on most such goods from them. Xinhua, citing the Vietnam News Agency, reported that the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Vietnam signed the agreement in Hanoi on Sunday.

The Swiss side was already in the capital. In a statement from Bern dated Saturday, the Swiss Federal Council said President Guy Parmelin was welcomed by Vietnamese President To Lam during an official visit to Hanoi that day, and that both sides called signing the agreement "an important political gesture that reaffirms their sh...