BRUSSELS, Shawwal 20, 1436, Aug 5, 2015, SPA -- Vietnam and the European Union have agreed to a free-trade deal that would remove nearly all tariffs on imports between the two partners, according to UPI. The deal is scheduled to take effect in late 2017 or early 2018 and is similar to a trade agreement between the EU and Singapore, the BBC reported Wednesday. Annual trade between the two partners was worth $30 billion. Vietnam exports consumer electronics and textiles to Europe and the EU exports electrical machinery, aircraft, vehicles and pharmaceuticals to Vietnam. The deal follows two and a half years of negotiations. --SPA 21:44 LOCAL TIME 18:44 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w