The Philippines is expected to export more high-value farm and fishery products such as virgin coconut oil and tuna as a regional free trade agreement came into effect this year, the country's top agriculture official said on Tuesday.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the Philippines has advantages in the production of certain agricultural products and can benefit from regional free trade agreements to increase farm product exports.

A free trade agreement covering China and the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) went into effect on Jan. 1, 2010. Under the agreement, duties of more than 7,000 trading items will be reduced to zero, save for some "sensitive" agricultural products such as rice and sugar.

"There are some sub-sectors that need to be looked after but I see there is a good opportunity for the Philippines to ship its products out," Yap told Xinhua, adding that the Philippines now is the world's largest coconut oil supplier and is blessed with a healthy poultry and live stocks sector free from foot-and-mouth disease and bird flu.

William Co, an advisor to the government's farm trade and former agricultural attach to China, told Xinhua in a previous interview that Manila is especially keen to promote the country's high-value farm products to China. He said virgin coconut oil is an ideal skin-care product for people living in frigid and dry northern China while a growing middle-class in Chinese cities will create demand for fresh tuna.

China is currently the third largest trading partner of the Philippines. Bilateral trade value reached 28.28 billion U.S. dollars in 2008 but 80 percent of Philippine exports to China were electronic parts, Chinese customs statistics show. Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao said he expected agricultural trade to pick up in the near future.

Coconut oil, fresh banana, tuna, pineapple and related products are top Philippine farm exports, according to the Philippine government data. Most of these products are shipped to the United States, Japan, the European countries and Southeast Asian neighbors. Agricultural export earnings of the Philippines reached 3.89 billion U.S. dollars in 2008. However, The figure is expected to slow in 2009 due to shrinking global demand and devastating natural disasters that reduced output.