"The present pact will be in force for a period of six months from the date of its signature and will be subject to an interim evaluation after three months", reads the document, to which Lusa had access, which was signed by the prime minister António Costa, and representatives of the Portuguese Association of Distribution Companies (APED) and the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP).

Distribution undertakes in the signed pact to reduce the price of the 44 VAT-exempt foodstuffs listed in the annex to the document, not including the tax cut in the commercial margin, and to reinforce commercial campaigns, "for a minimum period of six months", on sales prices exempt from VAT, with a view to promoting these sales and thus "contributing to the stabilisation" of prices, within legal limits.

The signed pact also provides for the formation of a Monitoring Commission, with a view to "watching over the implementation of the commitments" of the agreement, committing the parties to collaborate with each other in sharing information.

In the annex to the pact, the list of products with zero VAT includes bread, potatoes, pasta, rice.

In vegetables, onion, tomato, cauliflower, lettuce, broccoli, carrot, courgette, leek, pumpkin, turnip greens, Portuguese cabbage, spinach and turnip.

On fruits, zero VAT is foreseen for apples, bananas, oranges, pears and melons

Legumes include red beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas and peas.

In dairy products, cow's milk, yogurt, cheese.

There is also zero VAT on pork, chicken, turkey, beef.

In fish, cod, sardines, hake, horse mackerel, canned tuna, bream, mackerel.

There is also zero VAT on chicken eggs and, on fats and oils, on olive oil, vegetable oils and butter.

The change to the VAT rate for these 44 foodstuffs, considered essential for healthy eating by families, will still be subject to approval by the Council of Ministers.

The application of the 0% VAT rate to this basket and the reinforcement of production support will cost around 600 million euros, announced the Prime Minister, António Costa, in Lisbon, at the signing ceremony of the pact.