"We are negotiating 70 new markets for 340 products to be exported in various areas," said Maria do Céu Antunes, responding to MEPs at a parliamentary hearing in the Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries.

The holder of the Agriculture portfolio also said that a working group had been set up with the Secretary of State for Internationalisation and with the sector to monitor business opportunities.

As she explained, the aim was to "not lose resources to invest in markets that are not in line with what we are able to produce.

To date, 64 markets have been opened for the export of 264 products, 11 of which were opened during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We are not held hostage to what we have already achieved, but in reality we are in a position to do an even better job," the minister said.